Contemporary Mysteries
by AudreyBrown
Summary: Just when Arnold thought he was safe, Ms. Frizzle makes her comeback teaching the group's high school history course. Soon he and his classmates find themselves en route to the Yucatán pennisula. What adventures await them there?
1. It's Not What You Think

_August, 29th, Wednesday_

On the first day of his junior year, Arnold got a nasty surprise. It was not something he expected in the slightest. If he known what pure terror, horror, and senseless risk awaited him, he would have turned around and walked, no, ran, all the way down to the hall to counselor's office and immediately requested he be placed in another class.

Unfortunately, he didn't know what lay within the doors of the nondescript high school classroom he stood outside of. Seven years of relatively normally schooling had helped curb the fearful attitude he had once held towards the institution of education. At the moment, his biggest worry was that the counselor's office had made another mistake with his schedule and he might end up in a class that didn't fulfill any college requirements.

He stuffed his class schedule into his textbook and walked in.

Immediately, he knew something was wrong. One thing that set him slightly on edge was the fact that the classroom was decorated with brightly colored posters displaying scenes from American history and that gaudy props were positioned all over the place. Walkerville High, being under-funded, didn't usually have _that_ much stuff in its classrooms. Secondly, he knew all the other students currently waiting for class to start well.

This wasn't too shocking in itself. Walkerville High, despite being the town's only high school, wasn't enormous. Arnold knew the names of just about everyone he saw there. However, he certainly didn't count all of them as personal acquaintances, current or former.

"Hey Arnold!" Wanda was sitting in the desk nearest to the door. She waved cheerfully at him. Tim was sitting in front of her and Dorothy Ann was up in the front row.

Arnold felt his stomach churn. Suddenly the room seemed to whirl around his head. The blackboard, the brightly colored posters, and the ugly human skeleton by the door wearing a revolutionary war style hat all seemed to blur together. Somehow he managed to stagger over to the nearest desk besides Wanda's and collapse into its chair.

"It's not what you think, it's not what you think, it's not what you think," he told himself.

Dorothy Ann and Tim had both turned around in their seats and were looking at him. Wanda made a choking sound like she was trying not to laugh.

"Good to see you, Arnold," said Dorothy Ann. "Looks like we're all in the same class again."

"Isn't this weird?" said Tim. "I don't think this much of us have all had the same class together since elementary school."

"You guys both sighed up for AP history too?" Arnold asked them. They nodded. He looked at Wanda, and felt slightly surprised. He didn't know that she took AP classes.

"What?!" she snapped. "Is it so hard to believe that I'm in this class too?!"

Arnold was just about to ask Tim about their instructor, when several more students arrived and upset him. According to his schedule AP history was taught by Mrs. Knickerbocker. Arnold had never had her before but he knew her as a sort of grandmotherly teacher whose classes weren't that hard if you didn't miss anything and did the homework. She had a reputation for being somewhat dull but this didn't bother Arnold in the slightest. He liked dull teachers.

The other students upset him because they were all familiar too. They were the rest of his former elementary school class. All seven of them. Apparently the class only consisted of eight students. Even AP classes usually had much more than that.

Arnold felt faint. He considered running out the door. But he took too long debating this course of action and then she came in.

She looked a bit older than the last time he saw her, although he supposed it wasn't that long ago, and her red hair was streaked with just a tiny bit of gray. Instead of holding lots of boxes or weird props she was only carrying a textbook like the one Arnold and the others had and a folder that probably contained her lesson plans. However she was still wearing high heels and weird earrings.

She closed the door behind her. The others (the fools!) all started talking at once, and Arnold put his head down on his desk in despair.

Arnold had to ask himself why events had to repeat themselves so. It really didn't make any sense. And he was not at all satisfied with the explanation Ms. Frizzle gave for her presence there.

"Ms. Frizzle, what are you doing here?" Dorothy Ann asked. "How on earth is it that you're teaching high school history?" she gave the rest of the classroom a significant look that took in everyone else. "To all of _us_?"

"I'm glad you asked, Dorothy Ann," said Ms. Frizzle. "I must admit I'm a bit surprised myself by the way things turned out. You see, your principal, Mr. Arcadia, called me at practically the last minute, and asked if I could fill in for Mrs. Knickerbocker. She broke both legs hiking two weeks ago and wasn't going to be able to teach this semester."

"But, you're an elementary school teacher," sputtered Wanda. "What about your other students?"

Ms. Frizzle laughed her hair-raising laugh. It raised the hair on the back of Arnold's neck, anyway, and said, "Now, now, Wanda, I haven't taught in elementary school for the past two years. I've been doing research in the Yukon."

Good, Arnold thought savagely.

"Anyway," she continued. "You may not all know this but I have always had a _passion _for history! I know I'm going to enjoy teaching it to you. I don't find the high school American history curriculum quite as fascinating and amusing as the world history syllabus since I enjoy the broader perspective but regardless, I think this is going to be a fun semester."

Of course not, Arnold thought. After all American history alone doesn't contain as many catastrophes as the history of the entire world. He wondered if there were possibly any other classes he could take that would fulfill the same requirement as this one.

"I won't bore you all with the list of rules for appropriate classroom behavior since I'm sure you're all familiar with them. I will only say that I expect them to be followed here as well and I don't intend to waste time enforcing rules that could be spent far more productively."

Arnold couldn't help but look over at Wanda. She had stopped chomping the piece of gum in her mouth and spat it out in her hand. She was in the process of sticking it to the back of Tim's head. She dropped her cell phone, which she'd been playing with when he came in, into her backpack. She folded her hands on top of her desk and gave the board her full attention.

* * *

"Okay, so how weird is that?" Wanda demanded during the lunch period afterwards. Arnold was in the process of loading his tray with the meal of the day, which resembled slime mold, and was debating on whether or not he should visit one of the vending machines outside the cafeteria. Wanda was following him around and expressing her confusion and excitement over the situation in a loud voice. 

"I mean, what are the chances of all eight of us ending up enrolled in that class? And you know what, Arnold? I didn't _even _sign up for AP history! I was just, you know, talking to my counselor and I was like, I need to take something that'll look good on my transcript, and he said he'd find me something. So, it wasn't like I was _surprised _to see they signed me up for it, but I certainly didn't ask for it specifically. She's got to have planned all this. I wonder what she has in mind?"

Arnold didn't answer right away. He wasn't sure what to say. The first thing he'd done during the lunch hour was race to the counselor's office. Unfortunately, he'd been thwarted by the long line stretching out from the doors. Walkerville Highschool had been having problems with the registration process this year. Many students hadn't gotten into the classes they needed and had to make corrections. Arnold would have had to have spent the whole lunch period standing in line in order to get his schedule changed. He was too hungry to do that today.

He didn't want to tell Wanda that though. He knew she'd act derisive and call him a pathetic wimp. He was no longer infatuated with her the way he'd been in elementary school, but that didn't mean he wanted to be on the receiving end of her insults.

The whole situation was slightly awkward for other reasons then Ms. Frizzle's return. The eight of them were no longer close the way they'd been in elementary school. Once they went into middle school, they'd been all split up among three different schools. Wanda had been the only one of Arnold's former classmates who attended the same school as him. Carlos, Ralphie, Phoebe, and Tim all went to another school, and Dorothy Ann and Keesha ended up someplace else all together. Arnold didn't quite understand how that worked, but he knew that some sort of school zoning regulations had changed that year.

Despite having three middle schools, Walkerville had only one high school. A new one had been planned but building hadn't started yet. All of them ended up in the same school again. However, now, most of them no longer moved within the same social circles. Arnold knew that Carlos and Ralphie had remained best friends over the years, and so had Phoebe and Keesha. The rest of them had drifted apart to varying degrees.

"What I don't understand," Arnold began finally. "Is how she managed it. She said Mrs. Knickerbocker broke her legs two weeks ago, but we all should have been registered before that, right?"

"Around here? Who knows? They make a lot of last minute registration changes," said Wanda. "She _could_ have pulled some strings to get all of us together."

* * *

Arnold told himself he had plenty of time to move to another class if things got too weird. For now he just tried to put things out of his mind and relax. Unfortunately, this was not so easily done. Everything he saw reminded him of unpleasant memories, lurking just beneath the surface. 

For example, while he was walking home from school after the Rock Collector's Club had adjourned, he saw water trickling along the gutter at the side of the street. This sight reminded him of the wretched water cycle they'd been forced to explore and then been trapped in years ago. He shuddered and looked away.

He was right at the edge of the front parking lot, where the teachers, administration personal, and seniors parked. As Arnold glanced backwards he couldn't help notice the three yellow _school buses _located at the edge of the lot. Of course, they weren't used for _fieldtrips_, unless you counted the trips the sports teams and the choir and the bands took. Even so, those horrific reminders of his childhood made Arnold, particularly in the light of what this new school year had brought, decidedly uneasy. He'd been telling himself since the lunch period not to worry. It wasn't like Ms. Frizzle could take them anywhere. Where could they possibly go during the fifty minute period they had with her every day?

Still he couldn't shake the uneasy feeling. He hearkened back to his childhood and the constant terror he had lived in. He had tried once to explain to his parents why he dreaded going to school so much and always faked illness or begged to be allowed to stay home. He had tried to tell them about how he and his classmates had been transformed into hideous symbiotic sea creatures by the school transportation system and how another time they'd traveled to a solar system far across the galaxy to watch stars blow up.

His parents had set up an appointment for him with a child psychologist.

The child psychologist, after speaking with Arnold for about an hour, told his parents that he was having some sort of trouble at school. She wasn't sure what exactly it was but her theory was bullying of some kind. This was partly because Arnold's mother had told her about the time he had come home with a purple bruise over one eye. Of course, that had been from Wanda hitting him in the forehead with one of her plastic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and hadn't had anything to do with the fieldtrips.

Anyway, needless to say Arnold never tried that again. The other kids, being the fools that they were, all loved the fieldtrips so and wouldn't do anything to jeopardize their continuance. Arnold was sure that, what with the bus transforming right on the street, someone must have seen it or a security camera must have picked it up somewhere. But this never happened. His cousin Janet knew the truth, but since she was a chronic liar, having her supporting your facts tended to make them more suspect.

Well, he would just have to wait and see what happened. By the end of next week, however he'd better be out of that class if things started going down the same road as before.

* * *

_September 3rd, next Monday:_

Dorothy Ann wrinkled her nose in disgust as she held the paper at arms length. She crumpled it into one hand and used the other to push a strand of short blond hair out of her eyes and back behind her ear.

It was the first edition of the year of the school paper, the Walkerville Weekly. The staff had been working together since school officially started to get the welcome back to school edition out right away.

And it was revolting. That's what it was. There was no other word for it.

Still, it was _hardly _her fault. She couldn't help it that all the best writing assignments for the school newspaper went to seniors. It just rankled that for the rest of the year she would had to keep writing such mindless drivel.

Impulsively, she un-balled the crushed copy of the Walkerville Weekly, flattened it out, and reviewed it one more time, hoping that her article might come off just a tad bit better.

It did not. _Chewing Gum: Walkerville High's Adhesive Menace _still gave the impression of a piece of amateur journalism at its worst. She'd done careful and extensive research on the literature available on the subject, as well as interviewed students who lives had been affected by the rampant use of gum on school property, and done her best to write a riveting article. However, it seemed that she just hadn't been able to rise above her subject material.

Not only that but Rick Snyder and the rest of the senior staff had placed her article into the very back of the paper where people were less likely to see it. Even Janet Rogers stupid 'current events' column had a better spot.

Dorothy Ann shoved the paper away, no longer able to look at it. Oh well, she thought. She would still able to list her position as a staff member on the school paper along with myriads of other extracurricular activities she participated in and that was what was really important. And perhaps now that Rick and the others saw how much effort she'd put into this throwaway assignment maybe they'd give her something a little better to cover next time.

Besides, what with the return of Ms. Frizzle, the school paper seemed rather unimportant. The first week of class that they had had with her had been fairly normal, for Ms. Frizzle anyway, but who knew what their wacky teacher really had hidden up her sleeves?

Third period was just about to start and Dorothy Ann eagerly headed towards American History class.

She came in late because she'd wasted too much time out in the hall looking at her article. She had to open the door and make her way to her usual spot in the front of the classroom while everyone else was already sitting at their desks. Fortunately, Ms. Frizzle was still setting up for class and hadn't begun the lecture yet.

Dorothy Ann brushed past the others. Arnold, seated in the very back, was biting his nails and staring nervously at the map of Central America on the board. Wanda, right in front of him, was playing with her cell phone. Over on the left, Ralphie was staring out the window at the clouds and nearby Carlos leaned back in his seat. Dorothy Ann slid into the seat next to Keesha, not in the front row, but close enough.

Dorothy Ann tried to catch her eye and say hello, but Keesha, too, was totally engrossed with her cell phone.

"Alright, class," gushed Ms. Frizzle. "It's time for us to go--"

"No, no, no," moaned Arnold, dragging his fingers through his curly hair.

"---to page twelve in our textbooks."

The sound of several groans and then numerous pages turning filled the air. Arnold started breathing again.

"Oh, silly me, I almost forgot," said Ms. Frizzle. "I have a few announcements to make. First of all, I think congratulations are in order for Dorothy Ann. She received the top score in our district on the project she turned in for the Clarington Foundation." This was a competition where high school students competed to win scholarships by entering their own scientific research projects. The deadline had been in the spring, but scores didn't come back until the next fall. "Let's all give her a big hand."

Dorothy Ann was startled slightly; she hadn't been expecting Ms. Frizzle to make that announcement now, in this class. However, she was not suprised that she had won, since her project had just been that good.

No one else seemed surprised either. Carlos clapped with fake enthusiasm and said, "Nice going, Dorothy Ann," in a tone that suggested the opposite. No one cheered.

Dorothy Ann frowned. She supposed it was just too much to ask of them to show even a little interest in her achievements.

Ms. Frizzle seemed unaware of the reaction, or lack of it, among her students. "And as for the second announcement, if anyone is interested in receiving some extra credit by helping me with a project of mind, see me after class. Now onto page twelve. Today we're going to initiate upon our voyage of discovery of early Mesoamerican civilization," she gestured at the map, which showed a bunch of dots representing the locations of cities. "Of the people who inhabited the area during pre-Columbian times, the Mayan were the only ones who developed a system of writing that could be truly be said to be unique to the Americas. The remains of their grandiose civilization still create a sizable impression today when one views the remains of their astounding building projects scattered throughout southern Mexico and the Yucatan peninsula."

Dorothy Ann listened eagerly as Ms. Frizzle went on to describe the other achievements of the ancient Maya. She found the fact that the Maya had possessed intricate knowledge of both mathematics and astronomy, and even constructed certain buildings so that their doorways aligned with celestial events, particularly fascinating. Of course, she had already known quite a bit about that from her own reading.

Keesha was having a hard time focusing on what Ms. Frizzle was saying because Wanda kept text messaging her.

There was:

**?ts'up Ok,DAMHIK, b i herd like kate new sum kid 8 teh speciman in lab a/ hr cousins skool and he died JLT. OMG, CYBI???!!!! Like,lololoolzz645! KIT- Wnda.**

And then:

**OBTW, NFSCD K8 saw joe & vanesa KOTL n d hall, U knO? doesnt dat jst kill u? I mean, cum on! Theyre costantly makin out n publc. FTR,I love cherry kewl RTficL intelligenced it roxors. trly 1 o th mysteries d universe!!! -W**

And finally:

**Ya wanna n how he died? He 8 pRt of d octopus dey wer disecting & thN it poisoned him & he coughed bld & keeled Ovr. git out! ppl Et dat stuff n rstRNtz aL d tym! SWDYT??? PCM!!! pritE :) ':L???--wNDa**

Annoyed, Keesha gritted her teeth and shoved into her book bag where she wouldn't have to look at it. She glanced nervously up at the board, but Ms. Frizzle was still talking and didn't seem to have noticed.

"----bloodletting and human sacrifice were common customs among the Maya. These were important parts of many religious practices," As she spoke she tacked a photocopy of an ancient Mayan painting onto the board. It showed war captives being presented before a ruler. Although the painting was old and the figures were depicted in a style that was stiff and uniform by modern standards, if you looked closely you could see that some were begging for mercy and others appeared to have already had their throats slit.

Phoebe gasped and Arnold muttered, "I knew it," from the back of the class. Dorothy Ann had already known it too, but she wrote it down anyway. Keesha was still trying to figure out how they got from mathematics to human sacrifice.

After class, Dorothy Ann didn't waste anytime making a beeline for Ms. Frizzle. She ignored the commotion her classmates made talking among themselves and stuffing their books and papers into their backpacks. Within three seconds she was standing breathlessly in front of her teacher's desk.

Ms. Frizzle appeared to be going over next week's lesson plan. She looked up when Dorothy Ann's shadow fell across her.

Dorothy Ann didn't give her a chance to speak first and informed her in gushing tones how much she would love to be part of it, whatever it was. Wanda and Phoebe had gathered behind her and Tim and Ralphie were hanging around in the background. They were all curious about what Ms. Frizzle's 'project' could be.

"Oh, it's so wonderful to see such enthusiasm from you all!" exclaimed Ms. Frizzle. "I can't give you complete information on it right now, since it's still in the prepatory stages and I don't want to disappoint you if it doesn't work out, but I can say that it ties into what we're studying in this class and also contains opportunities for learning and advancement in other fields."

"Hmmm, does that mean we could use it for extra credit?" asked Ralphie hopefully. He figured he could use all the help he could get.

"Why yes, Ralphie, it could," said Ms. Frizzle. "How much effort you put into this will determine how much you get out of it. If you're diligent it could give your grades a serious boost."

"That's great, Ms. F!" yelled Wanda. Her grades were even worse than Ralphie's. "You can go ahead and sign me up."

Ralphie went along with Wanda and by this point Tim's curiosity was provoked to the point where he found it impossible not volunteer too. Of the students who had remained behind, that just left Phoebe. She wasn't sure how much she wanted to be a part of this. After all it probably wasn't going to be your standard high school fare and if it had anything do with what they'd studied today it might be just a little bit frightening. However, she would feel extremely self-conscious being the only one present who didn't sign up. She was sure the others were all expecting her to go along with them.

In reality they weren't and none of them, except maybe Wanda, would have cared if she chose to opt out, but Phoebe didn't think that that they thought that way. So she told Ms. Frizzle to put her name down also. Ms. Frizzle had mostly volunteered the information at the beginning of class just to see how many of her students were actually interested in during optional work. Surprised by how many of them were, she promised them she would let them know as soon as soon as she had more information.

They could only wonder what it was all about.


	2. Mayan Adventures

_September 7th, Friday_

For the next few days business at Walkerville High continued as usual. The counselors struggled to figure out the registration mess, most after school clubs and activities started running smoothly, and an unknown individual vandalized all the educational promotion posters in the library, hallways, and computer labs. As for the members of the AP American history class, with the exception of one student, eagerly awaited more news on the extra credit project, or fieldtrip, as they were certain it must be.

Finally, on Friday morning they got what they wanted.

"Well, class, I am pleased to announce an extra special excursion that will be coming up shortly!" Ms. Frizzle declared as soon as she finished the day's lecture. It had been about the Toltec influence on northern Mayan architecture.

A wide smile spread across Wanda's face. She whacked Carlos on the shoulder and gave him a sort of 'I told you so' look. Carlos ignored her. While he had missed the initial report from Mrs. Frizzle, earlier that week he ran into her in the hall and learned just about as much as the others had.

"My plan was to take some students with the bus down to Chichen Itza, in southern Mexico, during the three day weekend you have coming up at the end of the month. Chichen Itza, as you should know by now, is one of the largest Mayan sites, and the one that had been subjected to the most study and excavation by archeologists. It's a wonderful place to visit and is the site of one of the most famous Mayan pyramids, El Castillo. I was contacted by a collage of mine the other night who informed me that he will be able to make reservations for me and any of my students who would like to accompany me at the Hotel Mayaland, which is a wonderful place located right alongside the ruins. It was first hotel in the area, being constructed back in 1923."

"Really?!" Dorothy Ann cried, not believing her ears. "Ms. Frizzle, that's . . .that's fantastic!"

Tim, too, could scarcely contain his excitement. "You mean we'll get to explore the site and everything? We'll get to see all that Mayan _art_ and _statues_ up close?!"

"And we'll get a three day vacation in the tropics!" Wanda yelled, throwing her arms in the air. "Alright, Ms. Frizzle!"

While Carlos didn't exactly flip his lid at the mere thought of Mayan statues up close, he had to admit this kind of trip didn't sound half bad. However, he was careful not too look too excited. He raised one eyebrow, something he had spent the last few months practicing in front of his mirror. "That's it, Ms. Frizzle? We just have to sign up and we're in?"

"Why, yes, Carlos. My colleague will take care of the reservations. Don't expect it to be all fun and games however. You are archeologists in the making. This means that you will be studying everything you see closely, taking detailed notes, and writing me a thirty-five page paper on a relevant topic of your choosing when we return."

"This is double spaced right?" asked Wanda.

"No, Wanda. The departure date is September 25th. Those of you who are interested have to begin preparing right away." She was immediately faced with a torrent of questions.

"You'll need to get written permission from a parent or guardian. Yes, Wanda, you'll need to pack three days worth of clothes and everything else you'll need, obviously. I wouldn't worry too much about malaria, Arnold; it's_ very_ rare in the Yucatan region. Why yes, I do have some brochures for the hotel and some travel guides to the ruins and the surrounding area for all of you. I will need these back, please. I also have plenty of books on the region if anyone wants to see them."

The bell rang. Everyone either approached Ms. Frizzle with more questions or filed out into the hall.

"Mayan art! Mayan statues!" said Tim.

"I hope my parents let me go," said Phoebe. "They shouldn't mind, I mean, it's educational."

"That's what I'll tell mine," Carlos replied. "They're going to have a hard time believing it's free though. It is totally free right?"

Ralphie shrugged, "I guess so."

Carlos looked thoughtful. "It's funny, back in the day, when we went all the way to places like the Artic and South America we never had to worry about accommodations or money or packing or anything like that."

"What the hell are you talking about, Ramone?" demanded Billy Saunders as he walked by.

Carlos said something in particular back to Billy and then lowered his voice slightly as more people passed along them in the halls. "Ms. Frizzle used to just pull everything out of the back of the bus. And also, staying out overnight was no big deal."

"Yeah, but this trip sounds like it will be a little longer and more complicated," said Phoebe. "We'll be spending three days away from home. That's kind of a big deal, for me anyway." She'd never actually been away from her parents for more than one night. She was sure for the others however, it wouldn't be such a big deal. But even they weren't accustumed to going that far away. Not any more.

Carlos didn't share too many classes with any of the 'others' and didn't see any of them again until the lunch period. He had to sit through U.S. Government and listen to the teacher lecture on and on about bills. They went over how they originate, and then how they pass through the Houses of Representatives and then the Senate until they are stopped by a committee, and then revised a bazillion times. Then the president vetoes them. Carlos was so bored he considered stabbing himself in the hand with his pencil just to break up the monotony. He then ignored the rest of the lecture and and spent his time trying to get the attention of some girl sitting across from him. Finally the long hand crawled three quarters of the way around the clock and class ended.

He planned to eat his lunch in the band room and avoid the crowded cafeteria. Walkerville High had a closed campus policy ever since the beginning of last year and an incident that took place then. He waited around for Ralphie but when he didn't show up, grew sick of hanging around, and went down there alone.

Tryouts for the fall musical were being held. Carlos sat on one of the back seats and ate his sandwich while listening to various people screech lyrics and sing off key notes from Oklahoma. Keesha and Phoebe were both present, although they were probably going to be set designers or something because they did not audition. Thank God, Carlos thought. Nothing could be more painful than watching Phoebe fall to pieces on stage. And Keesha couldn't carry a tune in a bucket.

They were off to the side, talking to Arnold. Arnold, being a band geek, was there with the band geeks who were going to be playing in the orchestra. Because everything was still in the early stages people were milling around all over the place and talking.

Carlos jumped up, crumpled his sandwich wrapping and threw it into a nearby garbage can, and raced across the room to Arnold and the girls.

"What's up, guys?" he asked, slapping Arnold on the back.

"Hi, Carlos," said Phoebe. "We were just talking about the field trip to Chichen Itza."

"I'm not going," said Arnold, with a shudder.

"And I'm not going either," said Keesha.

"What, why not?!" Carlos asked, surprised by how much he'd actually been looking forward to them all going out on an adventure together again. "Are you still afraid of malaria? You're more likely to catch something serious here."

"I'm not worried about malaria. I just can't go. I have a job now and other things to worry about," said Keesha. "I just can't go away without a moment's notice anymore."

"Don't you understand what's going on here?!" Arnold interrupted. "Do you all really think this is just going to be a little stroll around the pyramids?"

"Well, no, not really," Phoebe had to admit. Keesha shook her head.

"Well, who's to say? What if we end of careening wildly through time back to the glory days of the ancient Maya? Then what?! Knowing her she'll want us to see them up close and personal! We learn ALL about their ancient rites and rituals! ALL OF THEM! We'll probably even get to _participate_! Oh, I know that I for one _cannot wait_!"

The band director had been looking around for Arnold. Now he had found him.

"Is something wrong here, Arnold?" He looked at them all, from one to the other.

"No, no, Mr. Katz, everything's fine," said Arnold.

"Are you sure? You sounded like you were upset."

"Oh, Arnold here was just practicing for his audition," said Keesha, smiling blandly. "He's uh, well, he's improvising."

"That's funny, Arnold, I never knew you were an actor. And here I was counting on you playing in the orchestra."

"I haven't decided yet," said Arnold grimly. "There's just so many fun things to choose from."

A pause, then, "Well, be sure to let me know when you do decide."

"Don't worry, he will," said Keesha.

Mr. Katz gave them one last odd look before moving off to answer someone's question.

Carlos had found a copy of the school paper. It had been stuck to a front row chair with about eight pieces of gum.

"But Arnold, just think of the opportunity you'll be missing," said Phoebe. "Don't you," she paused, looked around, and then continued. "Don't you miss the trips we used to take, even a _little_?"

Arnold shrugged and looked guilty. He didn't want to ruin the others' good time. And he was quite aware that none of the others were bothered the way he was. Phoebe had always been a bit timid and she wanted to go. Ralphie, a notorious coward, had seemed to have had no problem in class this morning. He did miss some aspects of it all. Maybe not the stuff like nearly getting struck by lightning and eaten by the tyrannosaurus, but he did remember, with a certain fondness the way they'd all been friends (for the most part) and always worked together to solve the problems they encountered.

"I think you should give a shot, Arnold," said Carlos. "I'm sure everything will be fine. Nothing bad ever really happened to us," He smiled morbidly. "Except for that one kid from before Phoebe. Remember him?" He flipped through the paper, carefully avoiding the gum, until he came to Dorothy Ann's article. "I really think she's outdone herself this time, you know?"

"What kid?" asked Phoebe.

"I-- I'll think about it, alright," said Arnold finally. "And that's _all _I'm promising to do."

"Well," began Keesha, ignoring all of Carlos' irrelevant remarks. "_If _Arnold does end up going, I'll see if my boss can give me the weekend off. I'd hate to be the only one left out."

Mr. Katz watched them from a distance. "The _trips_ we used to take . . .?"

* * *

_The Ramone household, 7:45pm_: 

That evening at the dinner table Carlos showed his parents the brochure and travel guide he'd picked up in class. His father forced them all to eat dinner together every night because it was quality 'family' time. Carlos had started to dislike this intensely around thirteen years of age. At least tonight it would be a good opportunity to get the inevitable discussion out of the way.

Mr. Ramone was telling some story from work.

"Anyway," he said. "They managed to recapture the horses. And none of them were hurt. They were all in stable condition. Ha ha!"

No one laughed. No one was evening paying attention. Carlos was staring off into space. Mikey was drawing a sketch of a computer chip he was designing on his napkin and Lucy, the sister, was applying a fifth shade of lip gloss after removing the fourth one.

"Well, this is interesting," said Mrs. Ramone, finally finished with looking through the travel guide.

Interesting could mean just about anything.

"I don't think I remember you taking any fieldtrips since elementary school. This is awfully sudden notice for such a big trip," she set the guide down open-faced and looked closely at him.

Mr. Ramone stopped shoveling food in his mouth and leaned over his wife's shoulder to get a better look. "Who did you say the teacher planning this was?"

Carlos grimaced; he'd already told them the whole thing when the meal started. "You remember Ms. Frizzle."

"That eccentric woman? She's teaching high school now?" said his father in confusion.

"Yes," said Carlos. "The school board likes to move teachers around . . .a lot." This was not true, but oh well. "And anyway, I don't even see why this has to be an issue. It's extremely educational and its totally free. Well, mostly. I think it costs like ten or fifteen dollars admission to get into the ruins, but I'll pay for that. It would be such a great _learning_ experience. A wonderful _opportunity _to learn about the ancient civilizations on this continent. And besides, you let Mikey go to Science Camp every single summer."

"That's true," admitted Mr. Ramone.

Mrs. Ramone was no stranger to her son's methods of obtaining what he wanted. He was a great liar. He could paint a fantastic looking picture, which may or may not bear a lot of resemblance to the real thing. "Well, what about plane fare? That's got to cost something."

Carlos almost dropped his fork but he caught himself in time. He wasn't sure how to explain about the old school bus. "Well, she's got her own jet . . ." This wasn't exactly untrue. "She was a member of a group of researchers, and they had their own private transportation. It's approved by the school and all that." Was it?

Mr. Ramone regarded him seriously for a moment, apparently thinking hard. "I don't know, son," he said finally. "I'm not sure if you've proven to us that you're mature and responsible enough for this kind of thing."

Carlos resisted the urge to bang his head into the table. "Dad, you do know how old I am right? Do I need to go get my birth certificate?"

"It's not that I'm not worried about you looking after yourself," Mr. Ramone lectured, pointing his finger at him. Carlos winced slightly; he hated it when his father did that. "Your mother and I are just a little concerned that you'll cause trouble for the rest of the group."

"Is this about the Landowner Bridge thing again? That was an entire year ago."

"Isn't that why the school's a closed campus now?" Mrs. Ramone remarked idly.

"Look, that wasn't completely my fault. And anyway, you should be able to see that I'm much more . . . mature . . . now then I was a year ago. My grades are good, its only on very rare and uncommon occasions that I get in trouble, and I'm doing just about everything you want me too."

"Just let him go," said Mikey. "I don't think I can take anymore of this whining."

"Well, _I _think it would be alright---" Mrs. Ramone began.

"Well, that's not _FAIR_!" exploded Lucy, who seemed to have been paying only marginal attention to the discussion until now. "Mikey gets to go to Science Camp eight times and Carlos gets to go to Mexico! WHAT ABOUT ME?!"

"But Lucy, honey, I tried to get you to go to Science Camp too," protested Mrs. Ramone. "You refused."

Carlos had finished his dinner by now. He could see that this meal looked like it was about to degenerate into fighting match, as these family dinners so often did. He could see his parents appeared to be leaning towards his side of the situation. The best thing to do would be to just give them some time to think it over. There was no real reason to say no anyway, although the transportation question seemed to worry them a little. He excused himself from the table and disappeared upstairs.

* * *

_The Li residence, 8:27pm_: 

"William give me back my DVD player!" Wanda's voice came howling down the stairs.

Mrs. Li set her coffee cup down, (she often drank coffee, even in the evening) stood up from her seat at the kitchen table, and walked over to the foot of the stairs. "Wanda, let him use it," she said in exasperation.

Wanda emerged at the top of the stairs. She had a plastic bag wrapped around her hair. "But, Mom, it's mine. You bought it for me, remember?"

"Yes, Wanda but we agreed that your brother could use it too," Mrs. Li's voice was extremely, almost disturbingly, patient, as if she had to deal with this kind of thing all the time.

"But I _need_ it!" Wanda wailed. "I have to have something to do while my hair sets! Arrrgh, that little----"

"Oh, Wanda, you're not dyeing your hair again are you? The chemicals in those things are terrible for you. You're hair can really be damaged if you use them too often."

"Relax, I'm just putting some orange streaks in this time," Wanda suddenly snapped her fingers. "Oh, oh, guess what!" She bounced down the stairs. At the bottom step she rummaged around in the pockets of her stylishly ripped and grungy jeans and then held up a miniature crystal pendant. "I've heard that you can feel all sorts of weird vibrations and connections to spirits at ancient Mayan ruins! I'm bringing my pendant just in case."

Mrs. Li rolled her eyes ever so slightly. "That's fantastic, dear. Don't get too carried away though. I think it's wonderful that you're getting this opportunity. But remember you need to be careful. This is going to be your first time in a foreign county."

Wanda looked away for a moment. In reality she'd been in several foreign countries during her elementary school exploits. "Uh, yeah, Mom, I just dunno how I'll adjust to it all. It's all so shockingly new. "

* * *

_The Tenelli Residence_: 

Ralphie came home around six o'clock. He did not have basketball practice yet, however, he spent a lot of time hanging out after school. He'd been debating with himself the whole day about how tell his parents about the trip to the Mayan ruins. He'd finally decided to just tell them straight up exactly, or almost exactly, what is was.

He opened the front door and was knocked to the ground by massive drooling furry monster.

"Sophie, get off me, you stupid animal!" he yelled, shoving the dog away him. Sophie was a huge, furry St. Bernard with black and brown patches. She licked his face one more time and then trotted off back into the house.

He found a note on the refrigerator from his mother. She was on call for the hospital and would mostly like away for the rest of the night. He would have to call her pager number to get a hold of her. This happened more often than not, but that was good because now he'd have something to guilt trip her with. At this point Sophie began pushing her food dish around the kitchen floor with her nose, trying to get the point across.

Ralphie fed the idiot dog and then made himself dinner. When Dr. Tenelli called later that night, he told her about the fieldtrip and how much he _desperately_ wanted to go.

Dr. Tenelli sounded fairly exhausted; she'd just finished delivering a baby. "Oh, that's great Ralphie. How much will it cost?"

They were fairly well off so money probably wouldn't be too much of an issue in any case. "It's free Mom," said Ralphie. "My teacher's already taken care of the transportation and the hotel."

"Walkerville High and its continuing quest for more money? Why do I find that hard to believe?"

"Is that a rhetorical question? Am I supposed to answer that? Anyway, it's not going to be a fun trip. It's educational and we have to write a thirty-five page paper on . . . stuff. Apparently, you can get lots of extra credit too."

"Well, that's wonderful. Coughgodknowsyouneeditcough."

"What did you just say, Mom?" Ralphie demanded.

"Oh, um, nothing. When did you say you were leaving?"

"September 25th."

"That's coming right up, isn't it. You'd better call your father and tell him."

Ralphie looked at the clock. It was now 9:25. There was a two hour time difference. "I'll call him tomorrow."

* * *

_The Capdeville household 10:00pm_: 

"Let me explain it to you again," said Dorothy Ann.

"Oh no, Dorothy Ann, I understand perfectly. Really!" cried Emily, holding up her hands.

"But Emily, according to my research the ancient Maya developed _three_ different calendars, including a solar-based one more accurate than the one we have today. The Mayan priests always observed the position of the sun and the planet Venus, which they were quite obsessed with. They knew it's entire orbit and they were able predict eclipses. They deliberately built a lot of their structures south of a certain latitude and when the sun made Zenial passages overhead it didn't cast shadows from the buildings. And you realize how long ago this was!?" Dorothy Ann paused to look up from her textbook. "We're taking about, oh, 250 A.D., I think. Isn't that just amazing?"

"That's great Dorothy Ann. But you'll have to excuse me, Mom's been after me to vacuum the living room for the past three days. I'd better go do that now." Emily beat a hasty retreat.

Dorothy Ann frowned slightly. She carefully closed her textbook, _Secrets of the Ancients_, and walked out of her sister's room. Her own room was just down the hall.

Right now she had it just the way she wanted it. The entire room was decorated in light blue and lavender. She had a massive bookcase positioned right next to her bed, jammed with all her favorite books, both fiction and nonfiction. Instead of posters of her favorite bands or celebrities, astronomy charts were hung all over her walls. She even had her own telescope, although that was out in the backyard right now. There was also a computer and combination printer and scanner in one corner. Right behind the headboard of her bed was a massive window that looked out into the backyard.

Dorothy Ann sighed happily and then flopped down onto her lavender and blue bedspread. When she looked up at the ceiling, she could see the periodic table of elements and the table of common logarithms she'd posted up there.

She absolutely could not wait to go on the trip to Chichen Itza. She already began planning meticulously for it. Mrs. Frizzle had told them they'd be leaving early Saturday morning and getting back late Monday night. However she hadn't outlined exactly what they were going to be doing over the three day period, and if Dorothy Ann remembered her old teacher correctly, she probably intended for a lot of it to be a surprise. Would they get the chance to visit any of the other nearby ruins or would they just be confined to Chichen Itza? What about the local villages and rainforest. Would they get to see that at all?

It didn't take a lot to convince either of her parents. One of her father's best friends was an archaeologist, and so he'd been very happy to hear about this kind of fieldtrip. He and her mother had been growing more and more disappointed with the school system over the past few years and they were glad to see more hands on activities for the students. And since Dorothy Ann had assured them there would be plenty of adult supervision they had nothing to worry about. They remembered Ms. Frizzle from their daughter's elementary school days.

Dorothy Ann rolled over and pushed aside one of the curtains to look out into the night sky. It was a wonderfully clear night and it almost looked like all the stars were crowding around her backyard.

The ancient Mayan may have been primitive in some aspects, but in other ways they had been very advanced. There was even some speculation that the Mayan had perhaps possessed greater knowledge of astronomy than society did today. Dorothy Ann was skeptical about that, but it was true that a lot of the old artifacts and parchments detailing the Mayan's astronomical observations were still as much a mystery as they had been when they were first found. Who knew what knowledge they held?


	3. Departure

_September 25th, Saturday:_

Wanda grinned enthusiastically as she saw the familiar yellow school bus turn the corner and pull into the high school parking lot. Beside her, Arnold turned shades of green and then gray and then white. The others all stopped whatever they were doing, be it squabbling amongst themselves, kicking a soccer ball around the parking lot, or reflecting thoughtfully on the adventure they were about to embark upon.

Wanda thrust a hand in the air and needless waved and yelled. Ms. Frizzle had no trouble spotting them. The hour was eight o'clock sharp and they had all congregated near the front steps of the school. No one else would dream of being there so early on a Saturday morning and so the campus, apart from them, was eerily quiet.

Arnold had spent the past two weeks wavering on whether or not he wanted to be a part of the fieldtrip. He had not mentioned anything to his parents, until Wanda dropped by uninvited one day and told them the whole thing. They'd been a little taken aback, but once they'd given it a chance to sink in they'd thought it would be a excellent educational experience and would probably look good on Arnold's transcripts for college. At this point Arnold had caved and agreed to go. But he was sure he was going to regret it.

Woe was him.

The school bus pulled up in front of the steps with an inanely cheerful beep of its horn. The doors slid open and Ms. Frizzle stepped out. Arnold still expected her to be wearing some sort of wacky outfit, perhaps with tiny replicas of decapitated heads from sacrificial victims as earrings, but instead she was dressed far more moderately in an outfit that looked quite suited to both long treks in the jungle and casual sightseeing.

"Good morning, class!" she said. "Are you all ready to be on our way?"

"Are we ever!" said Dorothy Ann excitedly, she was clutching a duffel bag in one hand and satchel stuffed with everything the local library had on Mayan civilization in the other.

"Ms. Frizzle, how exactly are we going to do this?" Tim asked. "Once we reach the Yucatan peninsula we're in a foreign country. Won't we have to check in with the embassy there or something?"

Ms. Frizzle explained the situation as her students filed onto the bus. "Admirable question, Tim. The reason I requested photo identification from all of you ahead of time was so that I could use them to obtain tourist cards. That should be all you need for a short trip like this." She handed them to each student as she or he passed.

Arnold sat down rigidly in the seat directly behind the driver. He gripped his suitcase handle tightly. The others, who all seemed more at ease, also found seats. The bus still appeared to be in good condition. The seats had all been reupholstered and the outside sparkled and shone in the sunlight as if it had just received a fresh coat of paint.

"The bus just seems so much smaller and more crowded then I remember it," Phoebe remarked.

"Well, of course it does," said Ralphie. "We're all a lot taller now. Except Wanda. It probably looks the same to h---"

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST SAY, RALPHIE?!" Wanda screamed.

"Now, now, class. I know you're all excited, but try to settle down," Ms. Frizzle said firmly. Once everyone was in their seats and the doors snapped shut she started the engine and they were off.

They drove through town and out towards the city limits. Arnold stared out the window at the fields they passed. He tried to focus on the flocks of sheep and boulders that broke up the landscape as he prepared for the inevitable surge that occurred when the bus went through its transformation sequence.

Phoebe and Dorothy Ann were sitting in the seats directly behind him and talking quietly. Tim was across from them. Keesha was right behind Tim and Carlos, Ralphie, and Wanda were sitting in the very back. Most of the noise seemed to be coming from back there.

Everyone else however, was quite subdued. It had been so long since they'd been on a fieldtrip like this, most of them were no longer quite sure what to expect. After a few minutes a silence stretched over the bus where the only noise was that of the wheels turning on the pavement and Ms. Frizzle humming to herself.

Wanda despised long pauses. "I know!" she declared, straightening up from where she'd been slouching in her seat. "Let's all sing some sort of traveling song thing the way we did in the old days."

Right behind her, Carlos had been gradually falling back asleep. Now he groaned and rubbed his forehead. It was way too early for this particular brand of stupidity.

"Oh, come on, Carlos," Keesha laughed. "You can't sleep in until noon every weekend."

"If I had my way," Carlos said darkly. "The day wouldn't even start until 12:30."

"Doesn't anyone want to sing?" Wanda demanded. "Come on, guys, let's do _something_."

Fortunately Wanda did not get a chance to sing, for at this point Ms. Frizzle interrupted and said, "Alright class, hold on. Here we go!" The entire bus shook and so did everyone in it until their teeth rattled. Arnold let go of his suitcase and grasped the sides of his seat. Behind him he heard Phoebe gasp. He was jolted back and forth rapidly several times and then the next thing he knew they were rising off the ground, leaving the stretch of road and the surrounding fields behind.

The trip south passed amazingly fast. They had all forgotten just how quickly they had used to travel. Within half an hour they were flying over the ocean. They were above the cloud layer now but on occasion it would clear out and they could catch glimpses of the rolling blue mass beneath them. Wanda pressed her fingers against the glass and remembered fondly all the times they'd visited the ocean in the past. She could almost feel its cool, salty breeze on her face now.

Dorothy Ann had taken it upon herself to give everyone some auxiliary information on the ruins they were going to be visiting, whether they wanted to hear it or not. And anyway, how could they _not_ want to hear it? "Chichen Itza is located in the northern part of the Yucatan peninsula. The site was founded in 425 A.D. At the height of its power it was ruled by a king called Quetzalcoatl. The city, like all the other great Mayan capitals, eventually declined. It was abandoned around 1200 A.D. There's been speculation that it was due to a civil war but quite frankly, speculation is all it is. Today, the site is property of the Mexican government and is maintained by Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History."

"So we don't really know what it was that made the Mayan civilization disappear?" Keesha asked her, interested despite herself.

"There are many other theories, and no one's ever been able to say for certain," Dorothy Ann replied. "At least, that's what I've read."

"Ever since we started studying them I sort of thought that it might have been brought about because the Mayans became too powerful. Their population exploded and the land couldn't grow enough food to support them. Then they all started suffering from malnutrition and disease until their civilization gradually fell apart."

"Very good thinking, Keesha," said Ms. Frizzle. "That is an excellent hypothesis."

Ralphie glanced at Carlos. "Notice how she never says any of our ideas are bad or unreasonable? "

"That's because you haven't contributed enough, Ralphie," said Keesha.

"Hey, look!" Tim cried before Ralphie could get off some sort of smart remark back at her. "See that dim shape on the horizon? That's got to be land. We must be approaching the peninsula!"

Wanda jumped up and ran over to the other side of the bus so she could look out a window that provided a better view. Arnold got up as well and made his way over there with slightly less enthusiasm. He told himself that as long as Ms. Frizzle showed no signs of touching the time travel device there was nothing to worry about. Ruins couldn't possibly be that dangerous. Unless they were so old and unstable they fell on you. He wondered what the chances of that happening were.

Twenty minutes later the hybrid bus/plane smashed into the jungle undergrowth and transformed back into a regular school transportation vehicle. Birds shrieked in annoyance and flapped out of the clearing. Several leaves were shaken loose from overhanging tree branches and drifted down to land on the intruders.

"Ah, wonderful," declared Ms. Frizzle, throwing open the doors. Immediately hot, muggy air drifted in. "Here we are class. We have officially arrived a little to the west, I believe, of Chichen Itza."

Arnold nervously poked his head out of the doorway and looked around. They were in a clearing that hemmed in by a ring of trees. It was beautiful indeed with sunlight streaming down through the canopy overhead to fall upon the forest floor. Brightly colored flowers that looked like orchids grew nearby. Insects buzzed around his head.

"Alright, Arnold, you can get out now," Dorothy Ann said irately, standing right behind him. "_Some_ of us would like to get off the bus within the next hour or so."

Arnold realized all the others were waiting for him to get out of the way. Hastily he stepped down and went over to stand by Ms. Frizzle as the others disembarked. Soon they were all standing in the clearing alongside the bus, looking around. There was no sign of any ruins as the trees blocked their field of vision as far as the eye could see.

"I'm not sure I understand where we are exactly," Tim said.

Dorothy Ann was more than ready to explain it to him. She had picked out a book that contained a map of the area just yesterday so that she would be prepared for this. Now she held it up so that the others could all see. "According to Ms. Frizzle, we should be just west of this red dot which represents Chichen Itza. The nearest town is Piste, a little to the west. The nearest large city is Merida which is about seventy-five miles away, nearing the western edge of the peninsula. Cancun is about one hundred and fifty miles to the east."

It was not good to encourage Dorothy Ann too much but everyone could not help taking it in anyway. "Ah, okay, I get where we are now," said Carlos. He slapped at bug that landed on his arm. Some of the others nodded.

Ms. Frizzle clapped her hands together purposefully. "Excellent! I cannot wait to begin our expedition. However, before we embark upon it let's go over a few ground rules. I'll make this brief since I'm sure you all can't wait to get moving. We shall spend the better part of today touring the ruins. We'll look at some things together but you will also have time to explore in smaller groups and determine what you would like to write your research paper on. Tonight at the hotel I will hand out instructions outlining the details of the paper and what I'm expecting from you on it. I do ask that everyone get a partner and stick together. You'll be less likely to get lost that way. We will check into the hotel tonight. For now, leave most of your luggage on the bus and only take with you what you intend to carry around for the day. Remember to bring along your sunscreen and bug spray."

After some rummaging around on the bus during which everyone secured what they wanted and left behind what they didn't, Ms. Frizzle led them off along a path to the east of the clearing.

Dorothy Ann trotted along right behind Ms. Frizzle. She slung her satchel over her shoulder and began slathering sunscreen all over her face and arms. She had a fair complexion and her skin burned very easily. If she even went to the beach without some kind of protection her skin would turn red and start peeling. As they walked along she could see that they were moving from a heavily forested area to a more open one with less protection from the sun. She began to wonder if she should have brought a hat.

Ms. Frizzle stopped abruptly and Dorothy Ann did so as well. Arnold, tramping along behind, nearly collided into her. "There it is class--- Chichen Itza."

Dorothy Ann screwed up her eyes in the early morning sunlight and looked critically at it. Arnold breathed a sigh of relief. It didn't look too dangerous. Ancient and otherworldly perhaps, surrounded as it was by the greenery of the forest, buildings looming up through the last shreds of mists. But not horribly dangerous.

The ruins were off in the distance and they still had a ways to walk. They group followed the path as it ran parallel to but some ways off from the main road. Occasionally a car would drive by. After walking about twenty minutes, they arrived at the visitors' parking lot.

There were some modern buildings here that looked like a museum and a cafeteria. Most of the group barely noticed them and continued to gawk at some of the bigger temples and pyramids off in the distance that overshadowed the whole complex. Walking just towards the back of the group, Keesha noted that although it was still fairly early they were by no means the only people who had planned to visit the ruins that day. Loads of tourists congregated around the main entrance and the plaza just beyond it. Ms. Frizzle walked right past the museum and other buildings, leading them through the main entrance. There they each had to pay ten dollars admission to get in. Upon passing through, the group found themselves in a great flat area, with a massive pyramid looming up to immediate right.

"Class, welcome to the main plaza of Chichen Nueva," Ms. Frizzle said grandly, gesturing around. "Directly to your right is the crown jewel of the site, El Castillo, the pyramid dedicated to Kukulcan himself!"

Fortunately most of the other tourists seemed to be equally weird or else so engrossed in their surroundings that no one stared.

There some argument about what to do next. Wanda, natually, wanted to climb El Castillo. Arnold, craning his neck to look all the way up the very steep flight of stairs, thought it would be better to remain at the base of the pyramid and safely admire the carvings there.

"You're pathetic, Arnold!" yelled Wanda. "Geez, Louise, grow a backbone, will ya?!"

"Arnold doesn't have to climb the pyramid if he doesn't want to, Wanda," said Tim calmly. "It looks a bit crowded anyway," he gestured at the mobs of tourists who all seemed to be drawn immediately to the majestic monument.

Arnold ground his teeth together. "No, no, I'm going to do it," he insisted.

And so they went up. There were four staircases leading towards the top of the pyramid, one on each side, making the whole thing perfectly symmetric. Only two of them had been restored and designated for the public use, however. The group climbed the south-eastern staircase. There was a gate leading to a smaller temple underneath that the outer temple had been built over hundreds of years ago. It was not open to visitors.

As Arnold had feared, it was not exactly easy going for the staircase was very steep. Within a short while everyone was feeling it in their legs and Wanda was moving much slower. According to her watch it was a little after 10 o'clock (which made it 9 o'clock because of the time difference). Even so, the sun was already beating down with a vengeance and it was swelteringly hot. Keeping one hand on the step in front of her for balance, she reached up to brush sweat of her forehead. She wished they were already at the top she could stop and take a drink of water.

"This pyramid contains nine levels," Ms. Frizzle blabbed away as they ascended. The steepness didn't seem to bother her. They were now a little under halfway to the top and had just reached the fourth level. "It was constructed so that during the spring and autumn equinoxes the levels cast a shadow on the edge of the staircase that resembles a writhing snake."

"That's incredible," said Tim. "When is the autumn equinox?"

"I think it's September 23rd," said Phoebe.

"Looks like we just missed it then."

"And this was intentional? How on earth could they have possibly calculated something like that?" Keesha muttered in disbelief.

"According to _my _internet research," Dorothy Ann bragged. "Most archeologists think that the 'snake' shadow is a result of more recent reconstruction efforts and wasn't something the Mayan themselves devised deliberately.

"The truth is, Dorothy Ann, that we really don't know," said Ms. Frizzle.

Towards the end more and more of them found they had to climb with both their hands and feet. When they and all the other tourists ascending behind them finally reached the top, they found that they were rewarded with an expansive view of the entire site and the surrounding jungle. Thoroughly tired out, Wanda and Phoebe sat down with their backs to the temple structure built on the top platform. Arnold adjusted his glasses, which were in the process of slipping down his nose, and then shaded his eyes from the sun so that he could look off in the distance. He was immediately jostled by what looked like two college students on one side and a woman in a brightly colored shirt and sunglasses on the other. _Too crowded! _he thought

He moved away to the left and nearly crashed into Ralphie, who was gazing off at an expansive complex of buildings some distance off to the east. The structure was surrounded on two sides by hundreds of columns that almost resembled soldiers marching in orderly lines. The rows of columns extended so far that they eventually disappeared into the jungle. The jungle itself extended beyond for as far as the eye could see.

"Bizarre," said Ralphie.

"I think it's interesting," replied Arnold. He was starting to appreciate the trip a little bit more now. Observing the natural world from a relative position of safety suited him far better than hazardous adventures.

"That's the Temple of the Warriors, Arnold," Ms. Frizzle explained. "The complex contains more than a thousand columns. It's theorized that they once held up a thatched roof and the---- "

"Here, lady, will you take this picture of us?" asked a random tourist, shoving his camera into her hands.

"I wonder which building is the observatory?!" Dorothy Ann looked around frantically. Although she could see the remains of many ancient buildings as well as scattered groups of tourists and locals throughout the site, from her current position she could not make it out. She tried to move around the temple to the southern end of the platform but too many people were in her way.

"Look, D.A.," Wanda chirped. She climbed to her feet, carefully holding her crystal pendant out in front of her. "Note the way it swings back and forth like so! I think its picking up vibrations from something!"

Carlos was standing halfway in halfway out of the entryway to the temple. He glanced in the murky darkness inside. "I suppose this is where they brought the prisoners to be sacrificed."

"That explains all the dark vibrations I'm getting," Wanda declared, her eyeballs following the pendant's swinging path.

"Of course, Wanda," said Keesha. "That must be it."

After everyone had had a chance to enjoy the view, be harassed by tourists, and catch their breath from the arduous climb, the group started back down. However, this turned out to be perhaps even harder than climbing up. The steps were so steep that is was very slow going and everyone felt like they were about to pitch forward and slide down the remaining steps to the ground below. Phoebe counted as she went and ended up with ninety-one steps in all. She and several of the others nearly lost their footing more than once. Dorothy Ann did slip and would have ended up sliding down a big stretch of steps if Carlos had grabbed her arm and steadied her. He smirked at her and she quickly looked away; she hated looking foolish in front of the others. Absolutely _hated_ it.

Once more they found themselves standing around the base.

An intellectual-looking man approached then, "Why, Valerie, is that you?!"

"Well, if it isn't Dr. Fritz!" said Ms. Frizzle.

Dr. Fritz was an old collage of hers. He was an archaeologist in charge of putting together some Mayan-based exhibit for a new museum in Mexico City. Ms. Frizzle wanted to stop and chew the fat with him for a while, so she turned her students loose to explore the ruins as they chose.

"After all," she said. "I have complete confidence in your abilities to remain motivated on your own. You all have the minds of scientists and I know you won't let me down." And anyway, it wasn't like they could go anywhere else. The only nearby places beside the ruins were little towns out in the jungle so there weren't a lot of things they could do to get into trouble.

While Ms. Frizzle and Dr. Fritz yakked away about some human skulls that had recently been uncovered in the sacred Mayan wells in the area, providing more information about human sacrifice, the students divided themselves into two groups. Group number one consisted of Dorothy Ann, Arnold, Phoebe, and Tim. They were the studious group. They planned to head towards the southern part of the ruins and find the observatory. The second group was made up of Wanda, Keesha, Carlos, and Ralphie. They wanted to go look at the ball court where the Mayans had played fun-filled athletic games that predated modern soccer and had culminated in the players being sacrificed in an elaborate ceremony. They were also the most likely group to try and sneak away from the ruins or get lost or end up upsetting the management of the site. That was why Ms. Frizzle had stopped talking with Dr. Fritz for a moment and made Keesha go with them, to keep them in line. On her own, Keesha would never have chosen to go anywhere with Wanda, Ralphie, and Carlos.

"Let's all meet back at the visitor's center at around three o'clock," said Ms. Frizzle. "Until then be productive and keep your minds open."

"Yeah, . . . .sure, whatever," said Carlos.

"I'm hot and thirsty," gripped Tim.

"What if we die from heatstroke?!" muttered Arnold.

"Can I borrow some money for the souvenir stands?" asked Wanda.

A little while later, Dorothy Ann, Phoebe, Arnold, and Tim, (on their way to the observatory!) had tramped all the way over to Tzompantli, also known as the wall of skulls. Tim stood back to get a better view of the fine relief carvings of human skulls. Phoebe looked on with distress as Dorothy Ann explained to her how the Mayans would cut off the heads of war prisoners and put them on stakes which were then mounted on the platform for display. Dorothy Ann was even a little freaked out herself by that information.

"Ugh, that's horrible!" Phoebe shuddered. "Why was this kind of stuff so common among them?!"

"Well, the Mayans thought that since the gods had given them life, it was only right that they repay them with human sacrifice," Tim said. "They believed it was necessary for the sustenance of the world. If it makes you feel any better, Phoebe, for them being a sacrificial victim was considered a great honor."

"Sort of like being prom queen or valedictorian?" Phoebe snorted in disbelief.

Tim shrugged, "Maybe something like that."

"Maybe if being prom queen of valedictorian resulted in the end of your life!"

"I don't know, Tim. I think you may be going a little two far with that line of reasoning," said Dorothy Ann. "According to skeletal findings a lot of the victims were children or other powerless people. And anyway, I can't imagine ever feeling _privileged _for getting chosen for something like that."

"Of course," said Tim. "But what if you'd been born and raised in a completely different civilization with different beliefs and values? What if you'd been taught different things about the world your whole life? Do you think you'd still think and feel the same way about everything?"

"Well, thankfully, we will never have to know the answer to that question," Arnold said.


	4. End of the Day

**Thanks for the reviews. I've never actually been to any of the places in this story but I thought Mayan ruins would make an interesting backdrop. I did do some research and tried to make everything accurate but there may be a few inconsistencies. Anyway, thanks for reading!**

* * *

It had been a long day. And Wanda had thoroughly enjoyed herself. She had gotten a huge kick out of spending her time exploring Chichen Itza. She'd even convinced her group to spend some money on a tour guide and the four of them had been taken over the whole site while receiving a lot of valuable information for their reports. 

In particular they had gotten some great stuff about the ballgames the ancient Maya had played. Being an avid soccer player herself, Wanda felt that ancient Mayan sports were the perfect topic for her.

"So, the losers were sacrificed right?" she had asked the guide.

"Actually, we aren't sure who was beheaded at the end of the game." The guide, a tall, thin man in his late twenties wearing a broad-brimmed hat, gestured at a carving showing a player whose head had been sliced off. A fountain of blood gushed from his neck. "For a long time it was believed that the losers' fate was death. But now some archaeologists actually think that the _winners_ were the ones who were killed. As a reward."

"Okay, that's interesting," she muttered. "Better take some notes on that."

After the ballcourt they explored the rest of the site. Wanda bought her fill of souvenirs from local vendors selling everything from jewelry and trinkets to vegetables. Unfortunately, she also got separated from the rest of the group because the guide insisted on moving too fast and ended up wandering around near the Temple of the Jaguars by herself until Keesha thought to go back for her. Ralphie climbed one of the walls around the Complex of the Nuns and fell off. Keesha said she hoped he'd broken something. And Carlos tried to get the tour guide to let him copy the itinerary for the tour to his notes. Keesha accused him of cheating. They were all having fun but towards the end Wanda was worried that Keesha might blow a gasket in her brain or something. Actually they were all getting rather overheated. The weather was practically unbearable.

Once the entire group reunited after their hours-long tour of the ruins, Ms. Frizzle announced that Dr. Fritz had offered to let them accompany him to the site he and his team were excavating. While he didn't expect to find anything nearly as historically significant as what could be seen at Chichen Itza, he did say that it would be a great opportunity to observe archeologists in the field and perhaps even be present during a new discovery. Not only that, but the caves he was working on were located out in the rainforest, away from civilization, and the group would get a chance to hike in the wilderness and see the natural beauty of the area. They accepted.

After that Ms. Frizzle had taken them to Hotel Mayaland to check in. The hotel had been charmingly old-fashioned, expansive, completely air-conditioned, and rather ritzy.

Of course, it had seemed a little too good be true. And when Ms. Frizzle went to talk to the desk clerk he didn't have any record whatsoever of their reservations.

"Oh, my isn't that surprising? I wonder whatever was going through Emil's mind when he told me he had taken care of everything?" Ms. Frizzle said in confusion.

"I really am very sorry about this, ma'am," the receptionist had been very polite. "I wish there was something we could do for all of you. But I'm afraid I can't offer you anything on the spur of the moment for a group of this size. We're still putting up a lot of the crowds who came for the autumnal equinox and we don't have enough space."

Dismay filled her heart as Wanda realized they were going to have to say goodbye to the Hotel Mayaland and its air conditioning system. She did love the sun and heat in general but she was now realizing that there was truth in what her mother had told her about how it was possible for their to be too much of even the best things. Wandering around outside was like being in an oven. And having actually been in an oven once, she could attest to that.

She bent over to pick up her luggage. She was developing sores on her palms from the suitcase handles. "Damn tourists."

"We're tourists ourselves," Tim reminded her.

"What are we going to do?" Arnold asked everyone as they walked back outside along a tree-lined walkway. "It's already," he glanced at his watch. "Four-thirty! And we'll have to drive to a town or something to find another hotel."

"And you know what?" said Keesha. "It wouldn't surprise me a bit if most of them are full too."

"You could very well be right, Keesha," said Ms. Frizzle. "In that case we may have to search long and hard to find accommodations for the night. Lost in an unfamiliar country without lodgings, this sounds like its shaping up to be quite an adventure."

"Aw, but the Hotel Mayaland brochure promised three swimming pools, Mayan musicians that serenade you, and a cocktail hour, plus FIVE restaurants and a poolside grill," Wanda whined. She knew she bellyaching and she should shut up now but she couldn't quite help herself. She'd been looking forward to the tropical vacation aspect of the trip ever since she'd heard about it.

"Yes, staying at the Hotel Mayaland would have been quite the experience," said Ms. Frizzle. "But unfortunately, one can't have everything. Nevertheless, I am confident we'll be able to find a place to stay that will be to provide us with a unique experience of another sort."

"What exactly do you have in mind, Ms. Frizzle?" asked Keesha.

"The nearest town is Piste, remember?" said Tim. "And that's right near the site. We shouldn't have to drive too far to get there."

"Yeah, but that means all the hotels there will be full," Keesha repeated.

"Well, we can't to go too far if you want to be here early enough tomorrow to join Dr. Fritz at his excavation site," Ms. Frizzle reminded them. "You may have to, ahem, lower your standards a bit from what you're used to."

Wearily, the group left the visitor's center and trudged back along the road in the direction of the bus. By the time they got back to the clearing where it was hidden, everyone was covered in sweat, bug bites, and scratches from the undergrowth. They all piled into the bus and Ms. Frizzle drove them to Piste.

It took some doing to find a place with enough vacancies for all of them, but finally persistence paid off and Ms. Frizzle pulled them over into a narrow parking lot next to a rather dilapidated-looking building.

The group departed the bus and, hauling their luggage, walked across expanse of dirt in front and over to the building's front door. Once inside they found that the interior wasn't any more impressive than the outside. The building was old and the paint on the walls seemed to be chipping. However, at least everything seemed to be fairly clean. The woman behind the counter was in the process of reading a magazine which she quickly set down to greet them.

They had no trouble booking enough rooms.

"Oh, gee, I wonder why?" Dorothy Ann said sardonically as the group congregated over by a tropical potted bush to discuss plans for the rest of the day.

"Come on, DA, it can't be that bad, surely," said Tim. His tone of voice suggested that he did not entirely believe what he was saying. Wanda suspected he was just trying to be a good sport. After all, she figured, Ms. Frizzle was the one who set this whole thing up and was paying for everything, or else allowing them to use things for free through her connections. They couldn't really complain that much.

"Now you all will have the rest of the day to spend as you see fit," said Ms. Frizzle. "Perhaps you could be productive and get to work on your reports? However if you choose to take a break and explore remember not to go out without someone else from the group. It's important that you all keep track of each other."

"I don't know," Dorothy Ann said as the students climbed the stairs. Ms. Frizzle had taken a room on the ground level. The students were going to double up in four rooms on the second floor. "I can't help but think we might have been better off sleeping on the bus."

"There's not enough space for all of us on the bus," Wanda snapped. "Too bad Ms. Frizzle didn't bring any tents they way she used to do." She grabbed the stair railing ahead of her and to the right and part of it broke off in her hand.

"But then we'd probably be out in the jungle at night," said Arnold. "That doesn't sound safe."

"Well, here we are," said Carlos, when they came out of the stairwell and onto the second floor. He twirled the ring of keys around his finger. "Now who's going where?"

Wanda ended up with Dorothy Ann as her roommate. Go figure. She wasn't terribly close to any of the other girls, but she probably would have picked Phoebe if she could have chosen. Keesha was still annoyed with her over incidents that had happened that morning when they were exploring the ruins and Dorothy Ann was, well, sort of an goody-goody snob, according to Wanda. Of course, Phoebe and Keesha were friends so they stuck together leaving Wanda with Dorothy Ann.

Their room was underwhelming. It was sparsely furnished with only two beds, a closet, one bed stand, two windows (only one of which had curtains), and a moth-eaten armchair. The nearest bathroom was down the hall. They soon learned that the hot water heater was only on between seven and ten o'clock in the morning. It was so hot out Wanda declared that she didn't care and was going to take a shower anyway. However, the water ended up being so surprisingly cold she found she couldn't stay in there for any longer then five minutes. She quickly washed her hair and got out.

She hastily got dressed and wrapped a towel around her drenched hair and ran down the hall to her room. While waiting for her hair to dry in the sun, she sprawled out in the armchair and enjoyed the view of the rainforest trees. She watched a native wood pecker drill a hole in the tree right next to the window and some weirdly colored butterflies flutter around the foliage.

Then Dorothy Ann came in and started harassing her with information about the cenotés and natural caverns in the area, like she remotely cared. They'd get to see all of that stuff tomorrow when they went off with Dr. Fritz. That would be far more interesting than any textbook. Wanda came up with some excuse to go downstairs.

Ralphie, Carlos, Arnold, and Phoebe were all sitting at one of the tables out back. There was a terrace there that overlooked the dirt road that ran along that side of the motel. There was a cafe right next door and they had ordered dinner there. Across the street you could see all sorts of local houses, some of them no more than huts, and some with lines of laundrey hanging out to dry. It was not the nicest part of town.

They had orginally driven in to town along a paved road surrounded by nicer buildings. This was the part of Piste that most tourists stayed in. Of course, there had been no vacancies there.

Wanda joined them and helped herself to their food.

"Wanda, don't take all of my chips," Arnold complained, as she reached over and grabbed a handful.

Wanda dipped a chip in some salsa Ralphie pushed towards her and shrugged apologetically. She was just so used to taking food from Arnold. It was like an ingrown habit.

Casually, she tossed the chip into her mouth. Immediately, as she chewed, a burning sensation spread across the inside of her mouth. She gulped it down and eyes watering, grabbed Arnold's glass of water and drank half of it in one gulp.

"Sure, Wanda, go ahead and help yourself," Arnold grumbled.

"------, what the hell's up with the salsa?!" she gasped, setting the glass down.

"It is really hot, isn't it?" Ralphie snickered.

"Dammit, you did that on purpose!"

"You can have some of this, Wanda," said Phoebe. "I ordered extra. And it'll take the taste away."

This was better. It was a some sort of tortilla wrap. "Mmmmm, whargmt's inn thisgh?" Wanda asked around a mouthful.

"We don't know," said Phoebe apologetically. "None of us really could read the menu. I only took Spanish for one semester"

"Carlossgh, caanght youm reagh anygh of it?" Wanda asked.

He shook his head. "No. My parents only speak Spanish when they're visiting distant relatives or they don't want us to know what they're talking about. They never taught us. My sister knew some swear words and she taught me to say them when I was like, six, but that's about it."

"I'm surprised you guys managed to get anything at all in that case," mumbled Wanda. She leaned past Arnold and glanced up and down the steet. Some kids were playing with a ball nearby and several dogs were running around. "I didn't realize some of the people were so poor here. What do they do for a living?"

"I think that a lot of people who live here try make money off of the ruins by selling souvenirs there," said Ralphie, suddenly more serious. "But its annoys the tourists so the officials regulate it."

"That's outrageous!" Phoebe declared, slamming her fist onto the table. "The government makes tons of money off of tourism. They should spend some of that money fixing up this part of town!"

"Well, we're spending our money here," said Wanda.

"That's hardly enough---"

"Hey, you guys!" called a voice from aross the terrace, interrupting the conversation.

"Damn, she's followed me," Wanda muttered.

Dorothy Ann hurried over, still carrying the _Cenotès: Hidden Treasure Troves of the Maya_. "I just found something fascinating!"

"Have something to eat, Dorothy Ann," said Carlos graciously. Wanda decided he was probably hoping it would keep her from talking too much. But apparently, Dorothy Ann didn't realize that. She smiled as she took the only free seat, the one right next to him.

"Alright," she set her book down on the table. "Oh, you ordered papadzules. I've been wanting to try these. They're made by chopping hard-boiled eggs up and placing them into tortillas. And this is pumpkin-seed sauce on top."

"Oh, so that's what that is," said Arnold.

"What?! Those are eggs?" Ralphie groaned. "I didn't realize they were eggs. They were all wrapped up in the tortilla and sauce and there were vegetables in there too. I hate eggs. You said these weren't eggs!"

"I was wrong, so sue me," said Carlos, rolling his eyes.

"I think it's pretty good," said Arnold.

"Yes," said Dorothy Ann. "It is. Still, I can't believe you guys didn't know what was in it. You should make more of an effort to learn about the culture your visiting. This food is just so different. Except for the chips and salsa. That looks just like something we might eat at home."

"Yeah, it sure does. Do have some, DA," said Wanda, smiling wickedly and pushing the bowl towards her. Once again, she failed to notice Arnold, the only one who didn't seem to bothered by the salsa's spiciness, and who had just been about to dip another chip in it.

Dorothy Ann pushed the bowl back, however. "I'm not sure if I want to! It may look similar but I'd want to know what ingredients went into that salsa. If it has habanero pepper in it I think it might be just a little too hot for me. Habanero peppers are sometimes used in the cooking here and they are far hotter than jalapenos."

Wanda and Ralphie exchanged disappointed glances. Only Dorothy Ann.

And she kept talking while the rest of them made short work of the food. "Did you know that the cooking in this part of world is influenced by both Mexican and European cuisine? Because the Yucatan peninsula used to be rather isolated from the rest of Mexico, what with the terrain and everything, a lot of things came to it by port from France and other European countries. And also---"

"Well, I'm done," said Carlos.

"Me too," said Ralphie

"It was great eating with you guys," said Arnold.

"But I'm not finished yet!" cried Dorothy Ann as everyone stood up.

That evening Ms. Frizzle called everyone together downstairs to hand out the paper assignments and discuss their plans for the morning. They would arise at six o'clock sharp and be back over at the visitor's center by seven. There they would meet Dr. Fritz and ride with him part of the way to the cave system. Because the road only went so far, at some point they would have to continued on foot. While it wasn't exactly a hike through the Grand Canyon, it was not going to be as leisurely walk. She informed them that everyone had better get a good night's sleep and be well prepared in the morning.

"What about the bus?" asked Dorothy Ann. "Are we just going to leave it here, Ms. Frizzle?"

Ms. Frizzle sighed, "I'm afraid the old bus just isn't quite what is used to be. It could certainly use the break."

Wanda was disappointed and everyone else (with the exception of Arnold) seemed to be too. Particularly Dorothy Ann.

BANG!

Wanda awoke with a start. Someone had just slammed the door to her room. She propped herself up in bed and looked around groggily for the culprit. That son of bitch had just awoken her after she'd spent nearly two hours trying to fall asleep.

Oh, wait, it's just the wind, she thought, seeing the curtains waft back and forth away from the window. It had certainly started blowing strongly. She wondered hopefully if that meant it would rain. That might do something about the blistering temperature.

Her gaze traveled away from the window and over to the bed next to it on the other side of the room. Wanda gasped and clamped her hands to her face. The bed was empty!

So that's what happened, she thought. Dorothy Ann must have gotten up and left the door open on her way out. Then the wind had blown it shut. She must have gone to the bathroom or something. Wanda flopped back down onto her pillow and shut her eyes.

Fifteen minutes later she was still awake. She was far too hot. She rolled over onto her side and kicked off her blanket so she was only left with the sheet. That was a little better. But her mattress was so lumpy and uncomfortable. And above her she could what sounded like a tree branch scraping against the roof in the wind. Under these conditions it was impossible to sleep.

She screamed and banged her head against her pillow. This was, without a doubt, the most annoying weather imaginable. So hot, so muggy, and why oh why couldn't the motel have air conditioning?

Abruptly she stopped beating her head into the pillow and held still. Where _was_ Dorothy Ann? She'd certainly been gone a long time. Curious, Wanda, sat up and looked around.

The room was rather dark, with the only steady light coming from the moon. She and Dorothy Ann had received a room facing away from the street, on the side of the motel that had the jungle crowding around it. It seemed that the rainforest in this area did its best to grow back and reclaim the land that mankind had tried to civilize.

Wanda laid on her back and stared at the ceiling while she waited for Dorothy Ann to come return. Up until now, she really had been enjoying herself, for the most part, even though the trip hadn't turned out to be exactly the way their teacher had claimed it would.

Actually, if you overlooked the abysmal lodgings they had to stay in, it was probably even better than what Ms. Frizzle had promised them in class. After all they would get to spend tomorrow traveling through the jungle on foot and helping Dr. Fritz's team uncover Mayan bowls and other such things. They would even get to spend the second night at the excavation site before heading back on Monday morning.

At that moment, the door creaked open and Dorothy Ann tiptoed through. She was wearing the t-shirt and pajama bottoms she had brought to sleep it but there were shoes and socks on her feet. She glanced over in Wanda's direction and then began proceeding quietly across the room.

"Where'd ya go, DA?" asked Wanda, without moving.

Dorothy Ann jumped and whirled around. "Oh, Wanda, you scared me!"

"Well, you _woke_ me up when you left."

Dorothy Ann quickly raced over to her bed. She paused, and then reached over and started to close the window.

"No, DA, don't! It's too hot already!"

"Wanda, it's starting to rain."

"Good," Wanda grunted. "Leave the window open." She closed her eyes.

Whumf! Creeeak. She heard the sound of Dorothy Ann jerking the window shut and then climbing into bed. A few minutes later the sound of raindrops drumming on the windowpane and the roof above them filled the room.

"DA," said Wanda.

"Hmmm?"

"You never said where you went."

There was a pause. "Oh. I just, um, I went to walk around a bit. I was too hot."

"Did you just go downstairs?"

"Yes."

"Then where did that leaf stuck in your hair come from?"

The rain had slowed down a bit by now and the sound of Dorothy Ann's bed creaking could be heard as she sat upright. Wanda could imagine her glare. "For God's sake, Wanda. What do you care what I do?"

"The Frizz said not to go out alone, didn't she? Were you by _yourself_?"

"Goodnight, Wanda," said Dorothy Ann quickly. She sounded almost abashed.

Wanda was startled by her reaction. She'd said that last part just to tease and hadn't really expected a response. She wondered if she'd actually been right. Had Dorothy Ann been sneaking outside to meet someone?

Wanda nearly snorted with laughter. That would be too hysterical.

She fully intended to prod her some more. Dorothy Ann had been correct about Wanda not really caring what she did, but Wanda did want to give her a hard time about it, if at all possible. However as she was formulating another question in her mind, exhaustion from the day's efforts overcame her prying nature and she blacked out.


	5. Driving in the Yucatan

The students awoke the next day to the sun shining in their windows and the melodious sounds of many tropical birds squawking joyfully in the morning. Arnold's eyes snapped open and he stared at the wooden ceiling above for a moment, disoriented. Where was he . . .? And why was it so hot?

He sat up and wiped sweat off his forehead. His sheets were clingy with sweat. Arnold grimaced in disgust and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He glanced out the window as he did so and saw that the sky was gray and streaked with pink in the east. It was still early, but he was knew that they had to get up in the first part of the morning and get moving if they wanted to meet Dr. Fritz on time.

He was looking forward to this little expedition for a couple reasons. 1: Archaeology. Arnold had always been fascinated by archeology, maybe even more so than Dorothy Ann. He had an aunt who was a fairly affluent archaeologist. Nothing could be more exciting, yet safe, than sifting through layers of dirt for hours upon end, and then finally, having persistence and endurance pay off when you made a discovery about the past. 2. No bus. Ms. Frizzle had said the bus had been acting up yesterday and so it would be best to avoid driving it too much. And anyway, apparently the dig site was rather isolated and there wasn't any way to reach it directly other than by foot. No bus meant no shrinking, time traveling, flying, falling, ect. None of those things Arnold hated.

After going down the hall to take a freezing shower and changing into a pair of shorts, a classic, yet stylish, orange and yellow striped t-shirt, plus a hat to protect his head from the sun, Arnold went back to the room to collect his suitcase.

"Uh, are you coming, Carlos?" he glanced over at the bed on the other side of the room.

Carlos grabbed his pillow and pulled it over his ears to try and block out the sound of the bird shrieking right outside the window. "I'll get up in a minute," he said.

Arnold remembered that Carlos wasn't exactly a morning person and shrugged. He had gone to bed at promptly nine o'clock last night (and due to the time difference it would have been about ten o'clock back home). Carlos had not been in the room when he fell asleep and as far as Arnold knew his roommate could have been up until two in the morning.

Upon coming out of the stairwell, Arnold found most of his classmates sitting on the floor or in chairs and wolfing down breakfast. Wanda was using a microwave set in an alcove behind the front desk to make toaster strudel. This did not seem to both the woman who was the proprietor. She and Ms. Frizzle were in the midst of a rapid conversation in Spanish that he could not follow.

Wanda came over and handed him a piece of toaster strudel.

"Have some, Arn. It's blueberry and cream cheese."

"Thanks, Wanda. Uh, where'd this come from?"

"Keesha and Tim went to the store this morning and got breakfast for everyone. There's some fruit over there on the table too."

Arnold went over to help himself to the fruit. Wanda smiled fiendishly to herself, chomped down her toaster strudel, and took a seat alongside Phoebe and Keesha on a bench next to a wide window that gave an expansive view of the dirt field parking lot.

She glanced around. The front doors were open because of the heat and Dorothy Ann was standing just outside, telling Ralphie all about the properties of some kind of tree growing out there. Wanda could just barely hear her talking.

She turned to Keesha and Phoebe. "Okay, so guess what?"

"Don't care," said Keesha.

"What?" said Phoebe.

"Our dear DA was sneaking around last night," Wanda informed them. "Don't ask me what she was doing. But _I _think she was meeting someone in the middle of the night!"

"Wanda, what part of 'I don't care' can you not understand?" asked Keesha.

"What does that mean? Why do you think that?" Phoebe whispered.

"Oh, cause I was making fun of her and she was all embarrassed and wouldn't talk to me. DUN DAH DUN! Suspicious, huh?"

"Wanda, is there some reason why you're making sound effects with your voice?" Tim wanted to know. He'd drifted over while they'd been talking.

"Beat it, Tim, we're having a private conversation here!" Wanda yelled.

"Oh no!" Phoebe cried suddenly, slapping her forehead. "I've got to call my dad! I promised him I'd call every day so he'd know I was okay." She quickly got to her feet and hurried over past Arnold towards the counter, where the only phone in the motel was.

Wanda sulked for a moment. No one (who she wanted to anyway) was listening to her and her exciting gossip.

The abruptly she stood up and went to get some more toaster strudel. As she ate her second piece she mulled over what could possibly be going on. She glanced back over at the parking lot. Dorothy Ann, gesturing way up towards the top of the tree, seemed to be acting normal now. Ralphie, watching her through half-slitted eyes, looked quite bored. But it hadn't escaped Wanda's notice that Carlos was nowhere to be seen.

* * *

Carlos dragged himself out of bed, showered, got dressed and headed downstairs. The freezing water helped jar him awake a little bit but he was still quite groggy. 

The others were all already up and about. He looked around the lobby hopefully to see if there was coffee of some sort but there was nothing like that to be found. The only stuff to drink was bottled water and fruit juice.

"Are you all packed and ready to go?" Keesha asked him, looking rather like she was making an effort not to smirk.

Carlos nodded and unscrewed the cap of some kind of pineapple drink. He took a sip and gagged slightly. "Okay, who bought this stuff?"

"That would be me," said Keesha.

"Keesha, from now on---" Carlos was interrupted from informing Keesha that she should have tried to get some beer or something for later (which was perfectly legal here after all), by Ralphie, who came racing up at that moment.

"That's it," he said, springing into the chair across from Carlos. "I now know everything there is to know about jacaritia trees. Lucky me. How have I made it through life so far being so ignorant?"

Dorothy Ann was chasing him. "No, Ralphie," she said. "You're saying it wrong. It's a jacar-_a_-tia tree. Jacaratia tree. And I really don't know how you do get by----"

Carlos interrupted her. "Dorothy Ann you look revolt- I mean, ravishing this morning," he said.

"Shut up, Carlos!"

"Alright, class, it's time for us to get going," Ms. Frizzle announced at that moment, gesturing at the clock over the counter. "We've got a big day ahead of us and not a moment to lose."

They managed to get themselves and their things out of the motel before seven o'clock. Most of the group was tired from either lack of sleep, stress, or change of climate and they had a few moments with people running back upstairs to get things they had forgotten. Once they finally got on board Ms. Frizzle drove them away from the motel. They left the poorer quarter behind and pulled out onto the more affluent main avenue and began heading back the way they had come. Everything outside was initially all wet from the rain last night but now that the sun was out it didn't take long for all that precipitation to burn up.

"Ah, it's so wonderful to feel the sun shining on your face in the morning!" Ms. Frizzle declared, as the aforementioned beat down mercilessly through the bus windows and made her students feel as if they about to melt.

"Ms. Frizzle, doesn't the bus have air conditioning?" Ralphie complained, gazing out the window and watching the scenery flash by. "What about that heat shield thing?"

"I'm afraid that broke two years ago, Ralphie, when I was in an avalanche in the Yukon. Sadly, I never did get it fixed since I didn't really need it at the time. I do think there's a switch for the air conditioning somewhere around here, though."

After hunting around for a moment, Ms. Frizzle flipped the air conditioning control and cool air began to circulate throughout the bus. Of course, it took a while for it to really have any effect. To try and get everyone's mind off the heat, Tim brought out the a roadmap of the area he'd purchased while he was shopping. He handed one end to Arnold and the two of them spread it out so that everyone could see.

"Alright, here's where we are," he pointed out the spot. "And here," he traced his finger along the blue line that represented the road. "Is where we're going after we reach Chichen Itza again . . ."

The others gathered around to see better. Phoebe started to get up from her seat but stopped when Wanda waved to get her attention.

"So," she resumed, crossing the aisle to sit down next to her. "Who could it be, do you think?"

"What?" said Phoebe. "Er, aaaaah!"

They had just hit some sort of obstacle. "Sorry about that, class," Ms. Frizzle called back. "My, my, my, these roads are certainly filled with potholes!"

"Who is Dorothy Ann meeting?" Wanda hissed. "Assuming she is meeting someone. We'll use the process of elimination to find out who!"

"Um, we will?" said Phoebe. "Maybe we could just---"

"It can't be Arnold because he'd be afraid to go outside the motel at night."

"A-Arnold?"

"Yeah, Phoebe, that's what I said."

"I don't think Arnold likes Dorothy Ann, not that way."

"Yes, but she did kiss him once, remember? It was when she accidentally killed Mr. Ruhle's pet chicken."

"What? I don't remember that--"

"Oh, it was a long time ago. But like I said, Arnold's out for obvious reasons. And it can't be Ralphie because he only gets crushes on cheerleaders. So that leaves Carlos. That would explain why he's like a zombie now, because he up late last night with her."

"But he's always half-asleep in the morning. Because he always stays up late."

"But they fight---"

"That's to hide their true feelings. Haven't you noticed like, the sexual tension between them?"

"Um, I don't know." There was a pause. Then Phoebe said, "What about Tim?"

"Who?"

"_Tim_, Wanda! You forgot to eliminate him."

"What?" asked Tim, he had just finished folding the map and was now looking over at them. "Did you ask me something?"

"Dammit, Tim, what have I said about private conversations?!"

They hit another pothole, or something, and Wanda, who was standing up to yell at Tim fell over the side of the seat. By the time she'd picked herself up everyone was staring at her. There really wasn't anyway she could continue her analyzing without it becoming a public matter so she went back to her own spot.

The rest of the bus ride passed uneventfully. They were driving back to the visitors entrance at Chichen Itza where they planned to meet Dr. Fritz. Once they got there and disembarked and entered the tourist museum, Ms. Frizzle immediately spotted him and a woman who appeared to be an associate of his in the main lobby. Clearly glad to see them, he greeted them all enthusiastically and explained about the exciting day he had planned. You could tell he was really passionate about what he did just by the way he spoke.

"I know you'll all learn a lot by observing us at the dig," he raved. "This will be the first time we've had high school students help out, but we've had some of my students from Orlando University before so I'm sure it will all work out just fine. We can always use more volunteers."

"Dr. Fritz, you mean we'll be able to help with the actual excavation?" Dorothy Ann asked. She uncorked her water bottle and raised it to her lips to take a drink.

"But of course!" he responded. "I wouldn't dream of making you stay on the side lines. Once we arrive I'll get you all settled with toothbrushes and screens and you can get started. It's unlikely you'll find anything big since you'll only be joining us for about a day but you'll at least get a feel for the kind of work we do. And you'll get to see all the discoveries we've already made."

"Uh, toothbrushes, Doctor?" asked Keesha.

"Yes," he responded. "Toothbrushes to get the years of accumulated dust off of small, delicate artifacts. You wouldn't believe how many of them we go through."

"Andre, we should get going . . ." The female associate glanced at her watch and gave him a meaningful look.

"Yes, yes, by all means, let's be on our way," said Ms. Frizzle. "My students are all packed and prepared. Don't worry at all about us slowing you down."

Dr. Fritz rubbed his hands together, "Alright then, we'll head east on interstate 180 until we reach Valladolid, then we head south a little ways, and after that we'll be continuing _on foot_. Er, will you all be following me and Dr. Sanchez in that bus of yours, Valerie?"

Once they were back out in the massive visitor's parking lot everyone stared at the bus, which somehow seemed less than impressive.

"You know, there's room for two more with me and Dr. Sanchez," Dr. Fritz informed them. He walked along a lengthy row of parked vehicles and gestured towards a faded green jeep parked at the end.

Wanda skipped across the pavement and clapped her hands together at the sight of the jeep. It would be a welcome change after being crowded onto the bus. She walked up alongside it and glanced curiously at the sacks of supplies load in the back. Were those _machetes_?

"Are you two riding with us?" Dr. Sanchez asked Wanda, and Arnold, who had joined her alongside the jeep.

"Sure," said Arnold.

"Count me in," said Wanda.

"There's no air conditioning, you know," she said, narrowing her dark eyes skeptically.

"And . . . I think I'll be riding on the bus in that case," Wanda said after a moment.

"Oh, for goodness sake, Wanda!" Dorothy Ann huffed, marching over with her duffel bag and satchel in hand. "I'll ride with the jeep."

Dr. Sanchez glanced at Dorothy Ann and Arnold critically for a moment and then opened the door to the passenger seat.

Arnold carefully set his luggage in the back on top of the supplies there, adjusted his hat, and climbed in alongside Dorothy Ann. He looked at Dr. Sanchez. She looked fairly young, probably in her late twenties or early thirties and she was very pretty, with dark, curly hair. She was tapping her fingers impatiently on the side of the jeep door while watching Dr. Fritz speak with Ms. Frizzle over by the bus. It might have been his imagination, but Arnold was beginning to think that she was not entirely happy to have two high school students ride in the back of her jeep plus a busload more of them following along behind.

He shifted uncomfortably. He didn't like being in situations where he felt like he was intruding into other people's space. He glanced over at Dorothy Ann and saw her set her tube of sun block down and swat irritably at an enormous black fly that was trying to take a bite out of her forehead. She didn't seem to concerned, about Dr. Sanchez that was. Maybe it was all in his head.

Arnold tried to forget about Dr. Sanchez and whatever her perception of him might be and focus on enjoying the drive. Dr. Fritz, who was also a very enthusiastic driver, got them out of the parking lot and the jam of tourists pulling in to visit the ruins for the day amazingly fast. Soon they were moving along the highway at a speedy pace. Dr. Fritz had the windows rolled down and the wind blew Arnold's hat off and tossed Dr. Sanchez's long hair in her face. Unfortunately the wind was also hot and dusty and did nothing to cool them down. Arnold could tell that Dr. Sanchez was becoming rather annoyed by it. Dr. Fritz, who was focused on the uneven road ahead, and had turned the radio way up so that loud music sung in Spanish filled the jeep, seemed unaware of this.

By twisting around in his seat, he could see the bus following along behind them on the interstate. He could just make out Ms. Frizzle talking to someone in the background and Wanda waving furiously at him through the front window before the road sloped downwards and a large hill rose up behind, causing him to loose sight of them. The terrain was flat and green on both sides of the road and rather boring. Arnold shifted his position and turned his attention to the conversation his fellow passengers were now having.

"So, Miss Capdeville, do you know what you're planning on studying once you get to college?" Dr. Fritz asked. He had turned down the music a little and rolled the windows most of the way up so they could talk to each other.

"Well, not quite yet," Dorothy Ann admitted. "I'm having a bit of a hard time making up my mind. When I was younger I wanted to be a nuclear physicist but I think moved a little bit past that career choice now."

"Really?" said Dr. Fritz. Arnold thought he sounded slightly taken aback.

"Yes," she said. "I actually have considered a career in anthropology. However, I think I would prefer to be a cultural anthropologist as opposed to an archaeologist."

"Is that so? Have you taken any thing like that at your school?"

Dorothy Ann wrinkled her nose. "No. Walkerville's high school doesn't offer anything like that," her tone was one of slight disgust. "I have read some books on it, though. I found some of Margaret Mead's work extremely interesting."

Then she and Dr. Fritz started talking about Margaret Mead, who was apparently some famous cultural anthropologist. Dr. Fritz was of the archaeologist profession himself, of course, but had a fair amount of background with cultural anthropology as well. Dr. Sanchez did not join in with the conversation. Neither did Arnold since he didn't know much about it. He did remember, however, that Dorothy Ann had been interested in anthropology and Margaret Mead all the way back in the third grade. One day they had had a substitute who had had them do the sort of assignment that Ms. Frizzle never would have given them. They'd all had to write a page about someone who they admired or inspired them and read it in front of the class.

Arnold had spent most of the hour designated to the assignment staring miserably at his blank sheet of paper and wondering what he could possibly write about and then read to everyone. He felt self-conscious sharing his hopes and dreams for the future with his classmates since they all found most of his interests (rocks) boring and some even went so far as to tease him about them. The others had had a bit more fun with it, of course. Dorothy Ann had chosen Margaret Mead, he remembered that in particular because the others had all chose more generic things, singers, athletes, ect. Wanda's idol had been a cartoon superhero. Darkwing Duck if he recalled correctly . . .

"How about you, Arnold? Have you thought about career options at all?"

Arnold could see Dr. Fritz glancing back at him through the rear view mirror. "Oh, uh," he cleared his throat. "I'm not really sure yet either. When I was a kid I wanted to be a geologist. I kind of think my folks want to be a lawyer or something, though. Like something that's prestigious and successful. Not that they'd put any pressure on me or anything. I figure by the time I'm actually in college I'll probably have come across something else that interests me more."

"Well, my boy, college is coming right up. You've got one more year of high school after this, correct?"

"Yeah," Arnold said. "I guess maybe I'd better start trying to figure this stuff out."

"Stop worrying him, Andre," Dr. Sanchez said irritably. "No one knows what they want to be at that age. You can't even think straight as a teenager. I went to cosmetology school right out of high school and was there for two years before I developed allergies to all the chemicals they used and realized that I absolutely hated it anyway. And then I wasted another two years trying to major in Health Promotion, of all things."

Normally, hearing that it was common to feel uncertain about what do with your life and that such an important decision took time might have made Arnold feel slightly better about himself, but the dismissive tone she used canceled out any positive effect it could have had. He shrugged in response, realized they couldn't see him anyway, and turned his attention to back to the scenery. He glimpsed people working in the fields alongside the road and spotted several deer before they drove into the next town.

Which was Valladolid. It was bigger than Piste but still had a relatively small population. As he drove them through it, Dr. Fritz explained about how Valladolid had once been the site of a Mayan settlement called Zaci-Val before the Spanish settlers took the buildings apart and used the materials to construct their own town. They got to see the central town square and some of the sites, including a enormous cathedral before turning onto the road heading south.

Once they were away from the town the scenery began to change. At the start of the drive they had been moving through pastureland. Now they were entering into the rainforest. Arnold watched with interest as the what started as sparse scrubby patches of bushes and trees gradually turned into dense vegetation. Before long they were surrounded on both sides by tall trees, smaller bushes, and all sorts of vines and other foliage. As they continued, the branches grew together overhead so that they were completely overshadowed by the canopy. The sunlight that filtered down to them was partially green.

He'd been deep in another rainforest, years ago, but he'd forgotten what it was really like. Everything seemed so vibrant with so much life packed into one place. More kinds of trees than he could count were growing alongside each other. He glanced over at Dorothy Ann and grinned. She smiled back at him. It truly was an amazing place.


	6. Archaeological Discoveries

They drove along the highway for another hour or so and then turned off onto a bumpy side road winding deeper into the rainforest. This road made for some hazardous driving conditions but eventually, Dr. Fritz had pulled into a small village built on the bank of a river. It was there that they parked the jeep and the bus and continued on foot. After several hours of rather arduous hiking, during which they spotted all kinds of wildlife and Arnold nearly stepped on a snake, the group reached the excavation sight at roughly three o'clock. The site itself was very isolated, and completely enclosed by the rainforest. Dr. Fritz gave them a whirlwind tour of the whole area, explaining briefly about the work that was going on and what everyone was doing. He introduced them to the other members of the research team. They met two of his graduate students, a lab technician who helped with analysis and cataloging of discoveries, and a local specialist of Mayan art. 

"Most of the heavy duty work took place over the summer," Dr. Fritz told them. "We're not operating with a full crew right now. We had a group about your size of undergraduates serving as cheap lab-, er, that is, earning college credit over the break, who just returned stateside. Lately, though, things have been pretty quiet."

Next, Ms. Frizzle showed them the dormitory style buildings they would be spending the night in. The cabins were built on the western side of the complex and were simple, cheap, and clean looking. Inside, they had plain wooden floors and bunk beds set against each wall.

"We can have the girls take one room and the boys take the other," Ms. Frizzle said, directing them where to put their things.

"And here's another scorpion," Ralphie announced, pulling back the bed covers. It scuttled out from underneath. "I thought I saw something twitch."

"Ack!" said Arnold.

"Get it away!" shrieked Dorothy Ann. She knew what some tropical species of scorpion could do.

"Don't hurt it!" cried Phoebe, from just outside the door. She scratched her right arm, which had been itching like crazy for the past half hour.

"Wonderful observation, Ralphie. Class, remember, to always check you blankets and bed sheets before lying down. Also, don't forget to examine your shoes before you put them on in the morning."

The boys left their belongings in the room. The girls walked across one of the grassy paths that ran around the complex over to their cabin.

"Oooh, can we sleep outside?" asked Wanda, noting the hammocks that had been strung up between the surrounding trees.

"If you want to," said Ms. Frizzle.

"Good," said Keesha. "That will give us a little more space. These cabins are awfully small."

Dorothy Ann scrambled up onto one of the tops bunks and set her duffel bag and satchel down. She decided to unpack later, or maybe even just keep things in her bags until she needed them. Right now she wanted to explore the ruin.

The excavation sight was dominated by a small pyramid. At least it was small compared to some of the structures at Chichen Itza. At its pinnacle it still reached about thirty feet above the ground. Dorothy Ann shaded her eyes from the sun and look upwards to admire it. Even after seeing Chichen Itza she still thought it was impressive. The areas where the actual excavation work was going on were staked off with ropes. A good deal of undergrowth appeared to have been cut back with machetes.

It's a shame, she thought. They've done all this reconstruction and recovery. We can guess at what it must have looked like long ago, how these people lived, and what they knew. But we'll never really know, will we?

She glanced back over her shoulder at Ms. Frizzle, who was talking to Phoebe. Phoebe appeared to have developed some kind of rash while they were hiking in the jungle. Dorothy Ann could see that one arm was covered in little red bumps.

"How delightfully bizarre, Phoebe. Do you what caused this?"

"I don't know, it just started . . .I think I first noticed that my arm itched when we stopped by the waterfall for lunch."

"Well, you must be allergic to something, Phoebe. Where did you sit when we ate lunch?"

Dorothy Ann couldn't stop wondering about Ms. Frizzle. Just what kinds of things did their teacher know? How much secret knowledge did she have access to? Did she know some things that Dr. Fritz, a professional archaeologist, could only theorize about? After all, didn't she have the ability to actually see for herself what----

Carlos waved his hand in front of her face. "Oh, Dorothy Ann, we're leaving now."

Dorothy Ann blinked and pushed his hand away. She felt her face start to grow hot, for some reason. "Stop it, Carlos. I'm coming."

"You looked a little spaced-out."

Dorothy Ann shrugged and started to follow him down the path that led to the back of the temple remains. As soon as they had gotten settled in Dr. Fritz had offered to get them the equipment they needed to try some hands-on excavation. This was not something she wanted to miss.

Ms. Frizzle was now also getting some tools for Wanda, Phoebe, and Arnold to work with. As Dorothy Ann was walking away, she saw Wanda nudging Phoebe. Phoebe glanced briefly up in Dorothy Ann's direction.

What was that all about? Dorothy Ann wondered. Are they talking about me?

Why?

Do I want to know why? Probably not.

* * *

Excavating ancient Mayan artifacts turned out to be not quite as thrilling as some people had thought it would be. Not that anyone expected a rollercoaster ride of excitement. No one, however, except perhaps Arnold, who knew how these things worked, had guessed that tedium would be the word best used to describe their job. 

The sun beat down mercilessly on everything below. The heat seamed to roll in waves off the ground. The stones of the pyramid aborbed it and were hot to the touch.

"Remind me what we're looking for again," muttered Carlos.

Dorothy Ann was not going to allow the weather to distract her. She brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes and focused intensely on the screen balanced between them on two wooden bars. "Artifacts, obviously . . ." she answered, rocking the screen back and forth to shift the dirt through. "Well, no, pieces of artifacts. Very tiny pieces, I'd say."

Carlos, Dorothy Ann, and Ralphie were all working together in the shadow of the pyramid. The sun had shifted in the last hour and deprived them of their shade. Dr. Fritz had showed them the dirt and shale piles that had been carted up from one of the crumbling tombs deep in the inner recesses of the structure. This debris needed to be sorted through in order to reveal anything that might be buried inside. He had showed them how to use a wide, flat box with a wire mesh base to separate anything important from the sand, dirt, and clay. And it was time consuming work.

"I have made some discoveries about archaelogy in general. I really didn't know 95 percent of the job was stuff like this," Carlos continued. "They ought to make an Indiana Jones movie where he just digs around in the ground the entire time."

"Yeah," said Ralphie. "And it should take place at an old Indian burial ground in Ohio or something."

"And when the villain gets to the inner tomb he should make the hired Ohio locals open it so they're the ones who get impaled on stakes or eaten by acid or whatever."

Dorothy Ann coughed and looked at the ground so he wouldn't see her laughing. It didn't do to encourage him. She didn't want him thinking his jokes actually had any effect on her, or that anything he did had any effect on her, for that matter.

"Where'd Dr. Fritz go?" Ralphie wondered. He held up a small thin appendage that had emerged when the dirt was brushed aside. It almost looked like a human finger bone caked in grime.

After being brushed and cleaned it was revealed to be a twig.

"He's taking Tim back to storage lab so he can sketch the stuff they've already discovered," Carlos said in a dreary tone. He set his brush down and looked across at the other group. They were working at a station about twenty-five feet away. He wondered if they had found anything yet.

"Patience isn't one of your defining qualities, is it?" Dorothy Ann said, giving him a sidelong look.

Carlos was about to answer when Dr. Sanchez walked by, closely involved in discussing something with one of the other excavators. She spared them a glance. "Could you kids please turn that sign around. We need to keep everything straight."

Each section of the excavation site was carefully marked off with sign telling what kind of work was done there. The was a sign tacked onto a wooden stake that said "Screening Work Station." It had somehow gotten twisted around so you couldn't read it properly.

"Ralphie, flip the sign, will you?" Carlos said. He started scrubbing at an oddly shaped lump with the special brush specially designed to work for that special purpose. It turned out to be a chunk of rock. "Oh, hysterical, Ralphie. You know what I meant--"

"Oh! Oh! look I found something!" Dorothy Ann shrieked suddenly. Carlos winced at her shouting right in his ear. She held it up triumphantly. "It's, well, it's part an ancient utensil . . .I think."

She took a few steps to the right so that they could examine the object in the harsh sunlight.

"Hmmm, looks like it could be a chunk of something that was once a bowl or cup," Ralphie said thoughtfully. "Or it might just be another oddly shaped rock."

The sound of approaching footsteps. Dr. Fritz had come back to check on them. Dorothy Ann smugly showed him her find. "Good job," he said earnestly. "You're all showing a lot of diligence and patience. This is not easy work. Sometimes it seems like we go for days or even weeks without making any progress. One of the most important qualities for an archaeological anthropologist to foster is endurance. Keep trying, Dorothy Ann."

Dorothy Ann dolefully tossed the rock into the pile of dirt they'd already sifted through.

* * *

The archaeological team usually prepared their own meals and they ate dinner every night around seven o'clock. That evening, it was a scrumptious, yet simple, meal prepared by none other than Dr. Sanchez. It consisted of pork cooked with black beans and rice plus some vegetables on the side. 

Keesha walked along the long tables that were set up outside to the hold the food, filling her plate as she went. Phoebe was following along behind her.

"How are you feeling, Phoebe?" asked Keesha, reaching for a spoon to use on the last remains in the dessert bowl in front of her.

"Um, a little better?" Phoebe's response sounded more like a question than a statement.

Keesha glanced over at Phoebe. Her allergic reaction actually looked worse. Now both arms were covered in mysterious red bumps.

"Ms. Frizzle told me to take some benadryl a little while ago. So I did."

"Did she know what could have caused it?"

"Er, no. There's too many new things around that I've never been exposed too before."

"I see. Oh, Phoebe, I'm sorry, did you want any dessert?" She offered Phoebe the spoon.

The dessert looked good, if somewhat unusual. It was a local fruit, called sapote, which was resembled a persimmon, mashed up and mixed with orange juice, sugar, and rum. Dr. Sanchez served it cold in a punch bowl.

Phoebe looked longingly at the dessert. "Go ahead, Keesha. There's only enough left for one person."

"No, Phoebe, you can have it. I'll pass."

"You go ahead."

"No, really I don't want any."

"I couldn't just take the last of it."

"No, I insist."

"I don't think I---"

"JUST TAKE IT, PHOEBE!" Keesha screamed.

They both started laughing. Arnold, who was in line behind Phoebe, gave them a disturbed look and backed away.

* * *

Dinner was eaten at one of the other tables or while sitting on the grass, in a hammock, or wherever anyone chose. Now that evening had set in it was much cooler and _much_ more pleasant. Of course, there were also more bugs to contend with. 

Dorothy Ann ate her meal on the lower steps of the pyramid and then sat with her arms wrapped around her knees, watching the sunset. You couldn't see actually see the sun anymore; it had disappeared beyond the treetops. But the sky was vivid orange, and yellow and red. Bird calls and other stranger noises came from the rainforest. All the while the sound of the insects in the air was constant, it formed a sort of ambient background noise that she didn't even notice anymore.

Her thoughts drifted idly back to home and she wondered what her parents and sister were doing right now. She knew her father would want to hear all about her trip so she'd been carefully cataloging everything she saw in her head; of course she usually did that anyway . . .

"DA, LOOK OUT!" Ralphie yelled.

Dorothy Ann threw herself to the side just in time to avoid being hit by a soccer ball. It hit the step she'd been sitting on and the bounced back down the rest of the steps to the ground.

Wanda sheepishly picked up the ball.

"Tell me you two aren't playing soccer here!" Dorothy Ann moaned.

"We aren't playing soccer here. But Dr. Fritz said we could play here!" said Wanda. "He said the researchers kick a ball around after work all the time! If he were that worried that the pyramid would crumble to pieces the minute something touched it, I doubt he'd tell us that."

"But we'll take it someplace else, anyway," Ralphie added hastily, seeing the expression on Dorothy Ann's face. "Wanda's playing's a little, er, inconsistent."

"So you say!" snapped Wanda. "I almost always make my goals."

"Like hell you do. You hit everything_ except _the goal."

"Oh, come on, Ralphie, your not still whining about that damn concussion I gave you in fifth grade. That was like, ten years ago, or something. The hospital visit got you out of school, didn't it?! Besides, you do know it was just one of those freak accidents?"

Ralphie didn't answer.

"Forgiveness is a virtue," Wanda added.

"No, it's not," Dorothy Ann said idly.

They stopped talking suddenly. Dusk was falling heavily now. And it was darker beneath the pyramid.

"We ought to be studying like DA here," said Wanda. "Thirty pages! At least I have some notes unlike certain people."

"Some of us don't need to take detailed notes. Some of us are perfectly capable of storing information in our heads . . .for a while. After that it get's a little murky," Ralphie grimaced.

"Didn't you come out here to take notes in the first place?" Dorothy Ann said. Mentally she told herself, Best not get involved. It is not your job to make sure they do their work.

"I should probably get started then," He picked up his notebook and flashlight from where he'd left them earlier. "See ya later."

"Is he going to climb the pyramid in the dark and take notes up there?" Dorothy Ann wondered. "Oh, I don't even care."

"See? People are more likely to listen we you don't bash things into their heads," Wanda chattered. "I'll bet the stars are going to be really bright once they come out. Are all constellations different in the southern hemisphere? I read an article that sunscreen may cause skin cancer. What do you think? Who were you sneaking out to see last night?"

"Excuse me? Wanda, you're confusing to talk to. And I wasn't meeting anyone."

"I knew-- hey! Are you _kidding_?"

"_No_. I mean, yes. I was well, it _is _stupid. I was just went out into the parking lot to get some air. You know how hot it was inside. And I wanted to look at the bus."

"Look at the bus?!" Wanda repeated. "Can I ask why?"

"Oh, I just wanted to see if it could----"

"Travel back in time?"

"Of course not," Dorothy Ann said. "Not exactly, that is. I just wanted to get a better sense of its capabilities. I know I shouldn't have snuck out and examined with it without Ms. Frizzle. If she wanted me to know more about what it could do she would have showed me herself. But I couldn't . . ."

"Contain your curiosity any longer?!" Wanda finished for her.

"I don't suppose we're going to be doing anything unusual on this field trip," Dorothy Ann said sadly. "Oh, I shouldn't complain. It's fantastic already. Most students probably never get to take a trip like this provided for by the school. And yet . . ."

"And yet you find you've never really adjusted to a normal life after the bizarre adventures we had?"

"Will you stop finishing my sentences? And you really thought I was . . .just who did you think I was meeting?!"

"Carlos," laughed Wanda.

Dorothy Ann sprang to her feet. It was hard to tell in the dim light but Wanda thought her face was turning red. Uh oh, she thought.

"Carlos?!" She clapped her hands to her face. "Meeting and doing what?"

"Er..."

"Oh my God, you didn't say anything to him, did you?!"

"Uh, nooooo . . ."

"What does that mean?"

"Well, not him, exactly."

"This is terrible," said Dorothy Ann. "This is horrible. Oh, Wanda, what have you done? You were so completely, totally wrong to think that and you've filled everyone else's heads with silly, ridiculous ideas!" She picked up her notebook, hurried down the temple steps, and marched off toward the cabins.

"Oh, good grief," said Wanda.

Dorothy Ann hurried away from Wanda and the pyramid, which really did seem much more ominous at night. She glanced backwards over her shoulder at it looming up against the night sky. The unfamiliar stars overhead seemed to be forming a deliberate pattern around it.

She really was mortified. If Carlos ever found out he'd have enough fodder to tease her with for the next year. Assuming he even cared that much.

How did Wanda reach that conclusion anyway? She and Carlos didn't hang out with each other or interact much in school nowadays. Carlos was on the basketball team, and he was popular. She . . .she was just too academically oriented for the popular crowd. Yes, that was it. She didn't think that she was exactly the type of girl he was interested in. Not that she cared, of course. She had far more important things to worry about. FAR more important things.

It was then that something odd began to happen.


	7. Hazards of the Jungle

At first Dorothy Ann couldn't believe what she was seeing. Right before her eyes were hundreds of green dancing lights. She stared open mouthed for a moment at what looked like a miniature firestorm. For a split second strange thoughts flashed through her mind involving bizarre occurrences brought on by the mere presence of their eccentric teacher. Then she realized what it really was.

"Amazing," she muttered appreciatively to herself. She knew the Yucatan region was filled with strange and diverse insect life but she'd never heard of firefly swarms before. It created a very beautiful scene. Not all bugs are pests, she decided.

After taking enough time to thoroughly observe the phenomenon she returned to the cabins to go to bed. Fortunately, it was very quiet and dark. She changed into her pajamas, climbed into her bunk, and settled down. The rest of the cabin was empty. Keesha and Wanda--- peace and quiet at last!--- were sleeping outside in hammocks and Phoebe had not come in yet.

What with getting up early that morning, all the hiking they'd done earlier, and keeping busy in the afternoon and evening, she was very tired. Despite the fact that her bunk was a bit hard, not to mention cramped compared to her bed at home, Dorothy Ann drifted off into unconciousness fairly quickly. She stirred only slightly when Phoebe opened the door and crept in. But it seemed like she'd only just shut her eyes when Wanda started shaking her awake.

"Em, leave me alone, I'll get up in a minute," she groaned, now aware of the faint light that was streaming in through the window.

"C'mon, DA," came Wanda's chirpy, high-pitched voice. "You have to get up. It's seven o'clock. Don't you want to do anything today before we have to go home?"

Dorothy Ann hauled herself out of bed and found that her neck and upper back were stiff from sleeping in an awkward position. She walked groggily outside and splashed water on her face from the outside cistern.

Within an hour the group had congregated around a campfire that was burning near the complex of cabins. Dorothy Ann batted her eyes drowsily as she took a bite of some tasteless oatmeal. Whoever had done the cooking this morning lacked Dr. Sanchez's expertise.

It was an eerie sort of morning. The sun was not fully up yet. It was much cooler and the air felt a chilly and clammy on her skin. Several deer were feeding on the grass near the western edge of the clearing.

They had until two o'clock before they had to leave the dig site. Their 'flight' was departing at six o'clock that evening. Dorothy Ann sucked some more of the slop off her spoon.

The agenda for the morning consisted of walking to the a nearby village and exploring the cave system there, which according to Dr. Fritz had once been a Mayan burial chamber before tomb robbers had run off with all the artifacts. Even so, there were still many wonderful wall engravings to admire.

"Caves were very important in many Mayan subcultures," he explained. "The Maya were obsessed with death. Caves were seen a magical places, places that were closely linked, and that possibly lead, to the underworld. They were considered to be sacred. Many remains of Mayan villages and cities have been found near subterranean formations. Of course, if you'd rather stay here and resume your excavation efforts from yesterday your welcome to do that instead."

The majority of the group: Carlos, Dorothy Ann, Arnold, Keesha, and Phoebe opted to go with Ms. Frizzle and Marko Castellanos, the team's art historian, to the village and the caves, if only because it sounded more exciting than shifting through more dirt. Tim had actually made a discovery of a pottery fragment yesterday and had convinced Ralphie and Wanda to help him look for more in the area where he found it.

* * *

They headed south to the village. Arnold was surprised to see up close how the local people lived. To him, they seemed very poor. They lived in thatched huts and there was a wall that surrounded the whole settlement built entirely of stones. As the group passed through, their path was blocked by herd of pigs some of the villagers were letting roam. They navigated around them. 

They waved at a bunch of local children who were supposed to be watching the pigs and had gathered to observe them.

At the end of the main path was a wooden church. According to Ms. Frizzle it served as the center for social functions within the village as well as a place for worship. Ms. Frizzle remained there to speak with the church caretaker about something unknown to anyone else, and told her students to continue on with Mr. Castellanos.

Mr. Castellanos took them up a steep trail into the forest and then into mouth of a cave there. Inside it was very dark and they had to use their flashlights to see. They could tell that they were in a very old place that had remained relatively undisturbed for countless years. The air was musty and felt vaguely unpleasant when you breathed it in.

"If I could direct you attention over here, " Mr. Castellanos gestured at on a long flat wall to their left. Carlos aimed his flashlight squarely at it.

"Thank you. This 'mural' depicts scenes from the Popul Vuh, the Mayan creation story. It tells how the Mayan people were constructed from maize by the creator god. This story probably came about because maize was the catalyst for the transformation of the Maya from a hunter-gatherer based society to a one that became agriculturally dependant and settled in a permanent place."

Dorothy Ann was excited to hear about such an ancient text of knowledge. She clapped her hands together gleefully. "Where's the Popul Vuh now?!"

"You can get a copy yourself if you like, Dorothy Ann. It's been translated into many languages and been widely distributed throughout the world. The most literal translation is a bit tough to follow if you don't know a lot about the context it was written in. However, there's also a simplified version that is also available."

"Going to spend your weekends going over it, DA?" asked Carlos flippantly.

"Yes!" she started to say, and then made a sour face when she realized he was being snide.

"Of course," said Mr. Castellanos, choosing to ignore their side conversation. "The _original _copies, which would have been composed totally in Mayan hieroglyphics, were all burned by the conquistadors."

"Oh."

"Fortunately, oral storytelling traditions allowed the creation myth to survive until it was able to be transcribed again."

Carlos handed Dorothy Ann his flashlight and approached another shadowy wall. He pointed at one of the engraved figures, although he was careful not to touch it. "What's this snake-figure supposed to be?"

"That's Chac, the Mayan rain god, and a very important figure in their religion. Interestingly, Chac was often very closely linked with this representation," Mr. Castellanos gestured upwards towards an engraving that held a more prominent position in the grande scheme of the wall, although it was so faded and dilapidated it was hard to see what it was.

"You can just barely make out the shape of a man here," he traced his finger in the air just above the wall's surface. "And these lines, here, depict a feathered headdress. This, I am sure, was supposed to show Kukulcan, the wind god."

"That name sounds familiar," remarked Keesha.

"Kukulcan is a prominent figure in Mayan art. And in Aztec art as well, for that matter, although they referred to him by another name."

"Didn't Ms. Frizz say that El Castillo was dedicated to Kukua-arg, whatever . . .?" Carlos asked.

"Well, the Aztecs knew him as Quetzalcoatl and there are some sources that tell of a Toltec ruler by that name who ruled at Chichen Itza for many years. El Castillo was named for_ him_. Unlike the previous rulers, he abhorred human sacrifice and abolished it during his reign. The legends tell of his arriving in a boat from across the sea and it was believed by the early central American cultures that he would return again one day in that manner. Thus, when Cortes arrived in Aztec lands with the Spanish, the Aztecs mistook him for Quetzalcoatl."

Everyone listened attentively. The story behind the carvings were interesting but since robbers had stripped the cave bare there wasn't much else to look at. Mr. Castellanos said they were free to go where they choose, as long as they didn't leave the vicinity of the village. After ten minutes fruitless searching, Dorothy Ann gave up the hope of finding anything else interesting and went outside.

Arnold was getting slightly claustrophobic and thought he would prefer walking around the village or the surrouding forest to this and followed her out. The others, still hoping they might find something, continued looking around.

Phoebe twitched as something feathery brushed against her. It was a strand of some kind of moss-like fungus hanging from the cave ceiling. It was probably perfectly harmless but after the arm rash she'd gotten (which had disappeared in the night) she had become a little more careful around strange plant-life. She moved away from it and began critically examining some shelf like structures built into the wall. Standing on her tiptoes, she could just see over the topmost one.

It looked like it might have once held pottery or other artifacts. It was empty of those things now but---

"Oooh, how sweet," she gushed to herself. "Baby bats!"

Carlos came over to see what she was looking at. "Oh, look, it's a bunch of---"

Something small and dark flapped down from the ceiling and over their heads. They automatically ducked and Carlos covered himself with his arms. It was only after he'd backed away that he noticed a small scratch along his left wrist. A tiny trickle of blood leaked out.

"Bats are harmless creatures," said Keesha, coming over to join them. "Unless they're carrying the rabies virus. I don't remember learning anything about that in the third grade."

"Yeah, I don't either," Carlos laughed. "Hey, I couldn't get it, like, from this stupid little scratch, could I?!"

Poor bats. It's not they're fault they might be diseased, Phoebe thought.

"Why, yes, some bats could possibly be infected in this region," said Ms. Frizzle after they group had gone back outside and Carlos, feeling just slightly inane, went over to show her the scratch. "It's a very small scratch but since it did break that skin that means there is a possibility of infection, slight though it may be. Well, in _that_ case we'll have to take you to the hospital on our way out and arrange for the first in a series of vaccinations."

"Series of vaccinations?" Carlos repeated, alarmed. "_Series_?! As in I'm going to have to get multiple shots?"

"Yes," said Ms. Frizzle. "A series of six shots are given over a month's time. Don't worry, we'll arrange for you to continue the rest back in Walkerville."

"B-but, ah great," Carlos started to swear but stopped because he wasn't sure how she'd react. He'd always hated shots. Then again the last time he'd had any had been back in elementary school.

"There's nothing to worry about, Carlos. We know that you need to receive the vaccinations. The real dangerous situations that arise are when people don't notice they've received a minor bite or scratch and don't know they need to take preventive measures."

* * *

Dorothy Ann and Arnold had gone walking around on one of the trails outside the village, trying to spot some more wildlife. They had not had much luck, so far only seeing ants and beetles. But then Dorothy Ann had found something more interesting. 

"Look, Arnold!" she cried. "Another cave!"

The two of them stood before a dark opening. They had already walked some ways from the village path and the area they'd entered was hidden by tall trees and dense undergrowth. It seemed rather ominous and Arnold wondered if Dr. Fritz and the other researchers had discovered this entrance yet. It wouldn't surprise him if they hadn't.

"Wow," he said. "I bet Dr. Fritz will be really impressed that you found this Dorothy Ann."

"What do you think? Could this one have been cleared out by tomb robbers as well?"

"I'm sure that will be the first thing Dr. Fritz and the others'll find out when _they_ go in."

Of course the two of them ended up going in themselves. Dorothy Ann was bound and determined to discover something herself on this trip. She already failed dismally at excavating artifacts and she hadn't gotten to go back in time. It was all very disheartening. Arnold whined and complained and put out logical facts, like that they should not enter a strange place where possibly no one had been before and no one was likely to think to look for them if anything happened. While it was true that her childhood adventures had left her with what was becoming an uncurable obsession with the unknown, Dorothy Ann had not become reckless or imprudent. She assured Arnold that she was just going to walk in a little way and see what was there. Then she would promptly retreat and they could inform Ms. Frizzle and the dig crew. Arnold felt uneasy about even doing that much, but he felt that he couldn't let her go in alone.

So he followed her in.

The two of them crept down the tunnel. The flashlight showed nothing but bare walls and stalagmites coming up from the ground. The ceiling began to slope downwards and the it grew darker. Dorothy Ann aimed the flashlight steadily ahead of them.

Arnold glanced back over his shoulder; the opening behind them was beginning to look too far off for his's tastes. He gripped Dorothy Ann's arm. "We should go," he hissed. "If there is anything important here we might end up disturbing it. You know how careful archaeologists have to be when they recover things."

Dorothy Ann had to agree with him. They'd already probably gone a little too far. "Okay," she said, and her voice came out sounding just a little shaky. "Let's turn around. I don't think we need to worry about having disturbed anything yet, though---"

Famous last words, Arnold thought later. As she spoke the ground gave way just ahead of them and masses of rocks and shale plunged downwards. _Cave in_! Arnold thought frantically. In the space of a second his eyes registered rocks tumbling down the side of the hole where the floor had fallen away and disappearing into the pit.

He moved backwards reflectively, taking Dorothy Ann's arm again and pulling her away from the edge with him. They would probably both have escaped unscathed if in the process he hadn't stumbled into a boulder on his right, swayed unsteadily, lost his balance, and then pitched forward.

There was the sensation of falling, which passed very quickly, and then he was plunged into water. He was initially submerged but, being a good swimmer, after a few seconds was able to break the surface and begin treading water. He now had no idea where he was. _Oh shit. This is great, just great. Why me, why me? _

Up above, he could see the gashing hole in the ceiling/floor he'd just fallen through. Above that he could dimly make off what must be the roof of the cave above. Only a little light leaked down from the outside entrance to the tunnel, making it difficult to see too far in any direction within the chamber he was in now.

By now most of the rocks and dirt had finished crashing down and only a few small pieces were crumbling into the water.

"Arnold!" came Dorothy Ann's voice. She sounded concerned. More than concerned, borderline frightened. "A-are you okay?! CAN YOU HEAR ME?!"

"Yes!" Arnold shouted, upwards, continuing to treading water as he did so. "I can hear you! I'm fine . . .I think!"

"Oh, thank goodness," she said in a relief. Then, "Do you know where you are?"

"Um . . . an underwater cave?"

"They describe how it works in _Cenotès: Hidden Treasure Troves of the Maya_."

"Do they . . .?" Arnold wondered how he was ever going to get out of there.

Now that she was calmer she was able to explain what had happened. "The floor of the cave above we were walking through was mostly limestone bedrock. Over long periods of time acidic water eats away at the softer rock, forming a chamber filled with water below, and leaving only a thin hard layer on top. That's what we broke through when we started walking down the tunnel."

"No wonder the locals haven't gone inside this cave."

"It's how the all the cenotès in this region formed! I think I hear someone outside, will you be okay if I run and look?"

Arnold had begun swimming around during this and had found a spot where his feet could touch the bottom. "Yeah, go ahead, Dorothy Ann." His teeth chattered together. For the first time since he'd taken a freezing shower at the motel, he was cold.

He heard the sound of her footsteps walking briskly, then running away, down the tunnel. He hoped she hurried.

Now that the cave in was totally finished, things had gone very still. Arnold squinted hopelessly in the dim light. He'd lost his glasses in the fall and his eyesight wasn't great without them. He wondered what kind of things, if any, lived down here.

Probably nothing. Unless this pool was connected with an underground stream, which was entirely possible.

* * *

Carlos, Phoebe, and Keesha were eating again. This time they, along with their teacher and Mr. Castellanos had been served some local food at the village church. Ms. Frizzle and Mr. Castellanos were eating with the church caretaker in the back of the main room, the potion that was reserved for religious services. 

There were also two back rooms that served as meeting room for the community and an education center/daycare of the children. These held several long tables there and that was where the students were seated.

Carlos was describing in detail the last game his team had played, the Friday night just before they left, and how he had enabled them to win. Phoebe listened politely, even though she didn't understand all the nuances of the game, and Keesha half-listened, half wondered what Ms. Frizzle was up to in the village.

Fortunately, they were spared from hearing away more by the arrival of Ms Frizzle herself and she gave them some tips on how to write their papers (which, incidentally, no one had started yet). Then a bunch of kids ran in to show them a cage with their pet birds.

"Wow, those are, um, very nice birds you have there," said Keesha appreciatively. The children couldn't understand her on account of the language barrier but they caught on to her tone of voice well enough. After that they wanted show them the pictures they'd drawn earlier that were pasted up on the walls. They learned that Ms. Frizzle had been to this village before and from time to time provided some additional education for the children.

Everyone was flabbergasted when at the moment Dorothy Ann, looking rather red in the face and with her usual neat hair in disarray, rushed in the side door of the church. She was out of breath.

"It's gasp . . .wheeze . . ." she took a deep breath. "It's Arnold! He's fallen into one of the sacred cenotés! Quick!"

Her arrival caused some commotion, mostly because it excited the kids, who didn't know what was going on but could tell she was upset.

Ms. Frizzle said something to them in their own language and one ran out of the room, to alert the caretaker, was Keesha's best guess. Dorothy Ann led the rest back outside, through the village--- they had to go around the pigs that would not move--- and up the hilly path and through an overgrown area until they reached a second cave. It started to rain at this point.

"Hey, Arnold!" Carlos yelled into the pit. "What the hell happened to you?!" His voice echoed in the tunnel.

"Oh, nothing much!" came the reply, also echoy. "Just a _cave-in_!

"What an excellant view you must have a cenote in its early stage of formation," said Ms. Frizzle. "You know, Arnold, I'm rather envious of you right now."

"Um, can you pull me out?"

At that moment Mr. Castellanos and church caretaker arrived with a rope. Ms. Frizzle directed them to haul Arnold out.

"Oh, what a relief!" said Dorothy Ann when he emerged, a sodden mess. She hugged him. They both drenched by this point so it didn't matter. Arnold's cheeks turned slightly red.

Phoebe smiled weakly; she was glad Arnold was okay as well. She found that she was tongue-tied, as usual, when it came to saying anything, however.

Carlos rolled his eyes. He was glad that Arnold hadn't taken any permanent damage. Well mostly. But he didn't see why the girls had to gush over him so much. Not that he was jealous or anything like that. No, he was not.

Damn you, Arnold.

"I wish you kids hadn't gone into that cave," sighed Mr. Castellanos. "We'd deliberately left it for the time being on account of it being unstable. We put up a sign, but that was this spring and I'm afraid the forest might have overgrown it."

"We didn't see a sign at all," said Dorothy Ann. Maybe we should have looked a little more closely, she added silently.

"Well, Arnold I must say you've had a unique experience," said Ms. Frizzle, producing a dry towel for him to put around his shoulders. "You must tell us all about it in great detail later. Right now I think it's time for us to return to the dig site. It's nearly noon and . . .we need to be on our way."

"Is that all it is?" said Keesha, looking at the rain that was falling steadily outside the tunnel entrance. During the whole ordeal she had, very sensibly, unlike those other three idiots, she thought, remained back and left the rescuers do their job. "It feels later than that."

The sky was abnormally dark because of the rain clouds. They retreated back to the village and waited their for the downpour to let up a bit. It was still falling softly when they hiked back through the rainforest to the dig site.

Hopefully the rain would let up by the time they were packed and ready to begin the longer trek to the bus.

* * *


	8. The Return Trip

_Excavation Site: 1:12 pm:_

"Hey, Tim! Look look look!"

"What is it, Wanda?" asked Tim in a monotone. He didn't turn around in his seat to look at her. His gaze remained steadily fixed on the fragments of the pot he was trying piece together on the counter in front of him.

"Look what Dr. Sanchez gave me."

Tim sighed and turned around. Wanda gestured at what looked like a jade necklace hanging around her neck alongside her crystal pendant.

"Uh, Wanda, why would Dr. Sanchez just give you a rare piece of historical jewelry?"

Wanda held it up with one hand and so he could see it clearly. "It's not. It's just junk. She showed me two of them. One was an actual relic and the other was one of the knock offs they sell to tourists. Since I was so clever in pinpointing the fake she let me keep it."

"That's nice of her."

"Isn't it?"

With a crash the door to the foyer opened and Ms. Frizzle walked in, followed by some of their classmates. They were all soaking wet, thus, they removed their coats and boots before coming all the way into the lab.

"Ah hello, Tim, Wanda," said Ms. Frizzle, sailing into the main room and nodding at each of them in turn. "I trust you've been productive?"

"Sort of," Tim replied, staring gloomily at the shards. "I think I'm still missing one piece. Not to mention there are all kinds of little fragments which are probably gone for good."

"I've be telling them to just give up but they're still trying," Wanda said. She glanced at the others as they came in, taking note of their disheveled appearance. "What about you guys," she asked, swinging the necklace around rapidly on her wrist. "You look like _you've_ all be productive?"

"Arnold fell down a well and Carlos was infected by a rabid bat," said Keesha. "So I suppose so."

The outside door swung open again and Ralphie walked in, took of his rain coat and boots, opened the second door, and came in behind Arnold and Phoebe.

Tim turned around, "Found anything?" he asked hopefully.

Ralphie shook his head. "Just more rocks."

"God, we've must've searched for three hours between us!" griped Wanda. "We didn't find a damn thing! What a waste! I should've gone with you guys."

"What kind of rocks did you find, Ralphie?" Arnold asked.

"Now, class, don't be discouraged," said Ms. Frizzle, holding up her hands. "You have learned vast amounts since you arrived here. You have learned how archaeologists conduct their work in the field as well a few things about the culture and mythology of the native people. You may not have found all the pieces, but you have gained something even more valuable. You have gained _knowledge_."

"That's right," said Dorothy Ann, perking up. "Knowledge is a commodity like no other."

"That it is. Now, class, I think it's time for us to get our things together. We're running a bit behind schedule. I'm off to have a word with Dr. Fritz. Please pack your bags," Ms. Frizzle shouldered her rain coat and stepped back outside.

"Wow!" said Ralphie. "I'm glad I got here in time to hear that. That was just . . . _inspirational_. And I for one am deeply moved."

"Shut up and start packing," said Dorothy Ann.

_1:41 pm:_

"Thanks a lot for having us," said Tim. The group had re-gathered in the laboratory to say their farewells to Dr. Fritz's research team and to thank them for their generosity in allowing them to stay at the excavation site.

"It was a pleasure to have you here," Dr. Fritz added, shaking Tim's hand. "You've _all_ shown such a lot of academic promise.

Dorothy Ann beamed. Several of the others smiled and Carlos said something inaudible. Wanda stomped on his foot.

"I trust we'll see each other again before too long, Andre," said Ms. Frizzle, shaking his hand.

The students exchanged goodbyes with Dr. Fritz, Mr. Castellanos, and Dr. Sanchez--- who seemed rather relieved to see them go. Unknown to them, she'd spent the entire time dreading the moment when she'd receive the news that they'd broken something or disturbed an artifact in its resting place and destroyed valuable contextual information.

Amazingly, she thought, everything had remained intact. Of course, they'd only been there for little more than a day.

"This weather sure looks bleak," said Dorothy Ann as the group marched back outside. The downpour had decreased to a dreary drizzle that continued to come steadily down. The sky above was pearly gray.

"We're gonna be soaked by the time we make it back," sighed Tim.

They followed Ms. Frizzle along the trail and departed the site. The undergrowth, which was very damp pressed in closely on both sides of the trail. Dense branches hung down on either side with droplets trickling from the ends. It was impossible to avoid brushing against then. Wanda pushed one that hung down over the middle of the path aside and accidentally whacked Arnold with the backlash. A minute later Tim slipped on the muddy trail and crashed into Dorothy Ann, sending them both to the ground.

"Oh, Tim! Do you have to be so . . .so . . .clumsy!" Dorothy Ann cried, spitting mud out of her mouth.

"I'm uh, sorry about this," said Tim.

"What if we had machetes?" said Wanda, automatically extending a hand to help Tim up. "Then we could just cut back all this foliage the way do in those really old films."

Arnold's face still hurt where the branch had smacked him. Inwardly, he cringed at the thought of Wanda armed with a machete. Noticing that he was the closest to Dorothy Ann now that Wanda had helped Tim, he hurried to grasp both her hands and pull her up. She smiled distractedly before trying to brush the mud off her face and clothes. In the case of latter it was hopeless. She gave up after a minute.

Carlos had started to move towards her and that art guy person when they fell but he pulled back when he realized Arnold was going to get there first. Whatever, he thought. He tried to look unconcerned and glanced casually over at some insects swarming over a piece of fruit.

"You know . . .I think those are poisonous, Carlos . . .," Keesha started to say.

He sprang backwards abruptly and nearly crashed into her.

Everyone stared at him.

"Hey, that's right," said Ralphie. "You're afraid of those, aren't you?"

"You look kind of flustered," said Keesha.

"No," said Carlos. "I - -I meant to do that. I've just been infected and poisoned enough for one day, you know."

"Alright, class, can anyone tell me about these insects?"

Carlos rolled his eyes as the others launched into a discussion about the poisonous insects. Big deal, he thought. Are we going to stop and do this with everything we see?

They finished with the insects and resumed walking. The trail stretched ahead, always looking basically the same. For a long time they could still see the tip of the pyramid stretching up over the tree tops behind them. Dorothy Ann kept looking back at it over her shoulder until it finally faded from sight.

The forest looked beautiful and mysterious in the rain and mist that was rising up. The trail was mostly downhill. It was much easier hiking back than it had been coming up. However, everyone was growing more and more tired from the past two days and soon they were shivering from the cold and damp. They didn't speak much more as they walked.

They were all relieved when they made it back to the village lot where the bus was stashed.

An associate's of Dr. Fritz's had already been along to collect the jeep, and so they spotted the bus parked by itself far away from the other vehicles on the other side of the lot. The rain had turned the dirt lot into a sea of mud.

When they came to the front of the cafe/rest stop, Ms. Frizzle handed Ralphie the keys and told him and Carlos to start the bus up while she went to pay the owner for the use of the lot. The two of them set off across the parking lot. The others, eager to get inside, hurried up the steps and towards the doors.

"God, I'm freezing! Open the -------- door!" Wanda snapped. She had arms wrapped around herself and her teeth were chattering.

Used to her verbal abuse, Arnold hurriedly moved to pull the handle before she got angrier. He hastily stepped aside as some patrons rushed out. Then the group went inside.

Inside the lights were dim and people were seated at various tables. Ms. Frizzle went over to the bar counter to talk to the owner.

Wanda's stomach rumbled. It felt like a long time since her group had eaten. She tried not to concentrate too hard on the smells that were coming from the kitchen behind the bar. It was interesting how food which she'd found foreign and less appealing began to appear more and more appetizing the hungrier she got. She glanced thoughtfully at Ms. Frizzle before nudging Keesha.

"Yes, Wanda?"

"Keesha, how many languages do you think Ms. Frizzle speaks?"

"English and Spanish. And whatever they spoke in the village . . ."

"Local dialect, Keesha," said Dorothy Ann, joining the conversation. "A lot of people here still speak the indigenous languages."

"Well, that makes three then," said Keesha. "One of which is obscure."

"Ms. Frizzle really is something, isn't she?" Wanda chirped. "I wonder how she stores all that information in her head?"

"Some people are better at that sort of thing than others. There are plenty of people who just have sort of a knack for learning---"

"Not just the languages. How does she do everything she does?" Wanda demanded.

No one had any answers. They hadn't had any answers back then and now, older and wiser, they still didn't have any answers. Dorothy Ann thoughts turned to the bus and she wondered if she'd ever get to see it in action again. Keesha also grew thoughtful.

So, she thought. Does this all add up? Ms. Frizzle used the bus to do all kinds of things. One time she even transported us inside an old film and we interacted with the characters inside it. But _how_ is that possible? Those were images. They can't _be _interacted with. It doesn't even make sense.

And before that when we were studying weather we were turned into clouds. And we were actually made of cloud particles. But that doesn't make sense either. How could we function or think since we didn't have brains or nervous systems or anything at all? We learned about the human body before that . . .

_Excavation Site: 4:34 pm:_

"It's great to see the things Valerie does for her students," Dr. Fritz remarked. He pulled some alcoholic beverages out of the lab refrigerator and passed them around to the assembled research team. "I certainly never got to anything out of the ordinary routine when I was in high school. It almost restores my faith in the U.S. educational system."

"Speak for yourself," said Dr. Sanchez. She held out her glass for him to pour. "I will grant you that they were a lot less trouble then I thought they'd be." She raised the glass to her lips and suddenly set it down upon the table. Her eyes locked on one of the glass storage cases. A concerned expression crossed her face and she hurried over to retrieve the key.

"What is it?" asked Dr. Fritz. "What's the matter?"

Dr. Sanchez fiddled with the lock, jostled the doors open, and withdrew the jade necklace of Ixtab. She ran the links through her hands for a moment.

"Why, Rita," said one of the other researchers, coming over to take a look. "It's . . . _plastic_. Is this some kind of joke?"

_Calak Village, same time:_

"Alright, class, shall we go?" Ms. Frizzle rejoined them over by the entrance.

She led them back outside into the rain. Keesha was still trying to come up with a logical explanation for what had happened. She knew there had to be one. However, she was unsatisfied with the only one that was making sense to her right now, which was mass hallucination.

The rain had started to come down harder again and bus's headlights were on. Ralphie waved at them from behind the windshield.

"Oh, _good_," said Dorothy Ann. "They didn't lock the keys in the bus this time."

"Alright," said Ms. Frizzle after they were all jammed inside once again. "We just need to take a brief swing by the emergency room in Valladolid before we head home."

_Several hours later:_

After the trip to the emergency room where Carlos was jabbed by a needle and given orders to receive three more shots at Capt. Walker's Memorial Hospital, they had taken off for home.

Most of them fell asleep on the way back. Dorothy Ann placed her bag stuffed with clothes behind her head like a pillow. The others leaned against the windowpanes or slumped in their seats. Tim hooked up his laptop to an outlet in back of the bus and began organizing the notes he'd written for his paper. The glow from the laptop lit up the back half of the bus. Carlos, who had always been a night person no matter how tired he was, stayed awake and watched the ocean below every time the dark clouds rolled away.

"I can't say I'm totally looking forward to returning to school," said Dorothy Ann suddenly.

Carlos hadn't realized she was awake. He turned around to look at her. She was sitting upright, idly playing with the strap of her bag. Wanda was curled up fast asleep on the seat next to her.

"Why not?" Carlos asked, leaning on the back of the bus seat. "I though you liked---"

"Oh, I do," said Dorothy Ann. "But I'm sorry to be leaving the here so soon. There's so much more to see."

"Yeah, there is," Carlos admitted. "But this is probably the last of these little trips."

"You're right," sighed Dorothy Ann. "I don't think she can really take us out of school anymore."

They were quiet after that. The only noise was the sound of the engine and faint noise of Tim's fingers tapping the keys.

Dorothy Ann leaned the side of her head on one hand and gazed out the window. They were traveling through a clear patch of sky and the moon was shining through. Carlos raised his eyes and watched it play across her features before quickly looking away.

She had probably been the first girl he'd developed a crush on, way back in the third grade. Of course, at that age the boys in the class, with the exception of Arnold, who was a sap anyway, never showed that kind of interest in girls. So Carlos had expressed his feelings by throwing her books in the mud on the first day of school and teasing her for the rest of the year. True, he teased everyone, but her especially.

It was funny how things changed. He used to start pointless arguments just to get a chance to talk to her, although he'd hadn't quite realized why he was doing it at the time. These last few years, they'd barely spoken.

The bus was enveloped by clouds for the next part of its journey. When they finally emerged they had reached the eastern coast of the united States and were flying over a bay area. Within a few more minutes they were flying over land.

Ralphie rubbed his eyes and glanced out the window. They were still pretty high up but he could see city lights below them. It was unlikely that anyone on the ground could see them. But what if the bus was picked up by radar?

Before they knew it, they had passed over the city and the bus touched down on some out of the way country road. From there on it was a three mile drive to the Walkerville town limits.

"Alright then," Ms. Frizzle said, as they drove. "Paper topics?"

"Mayan sports," said Wanda groggily.

"Astronomy and timekeeping," said Dorothy Ann.

"How art and sculpture reflected cultural beliefs," said Tim.

"Agriculture," said Arnold.

"Mayan hieroglyphics," said Keesha.

"I'm doing Mythology," said Carlos.

"Um, well, hmmm. I can't think of anything," said Ralphie. "Everything's taken."

Phoebe nodded; she'd been thinking the same thing. Everyone else had already grabbed all the topics she could think off.

"How about the archaeological process that's itself?" Ms. Frizzle suggested. "You should all know plenty about that by now. One of you could write about how archaeologists recover and restore artifacts and the other discuss grave robbing and its implications."

It sounded like a good idea so they agreed. Next, they pulled into the high school parking lot. It was strange to be back. It felt like everyday, ordinary life was suddenly colliding with their out of the ordinary, bizarre experiences.

Ms. Frizzle kept talking. "Now, I've be thinking that perhaps I've been pushing you a little too hard. I'm going to extend the deadline to three weeks and have it due in class that Monday so you won't be rushed. However, this does mean that I will expect your best work."

Everyone groaned.

"Thirty pages!" Wanda griped. "Thirty ------ pages! Are we writing novels here? Even college students don't have to do that much," she slumped down in the seat next to Dorothy Ann, her necklace jangling.

Dorothy Ann noticed it. "Wanda . . .that's a really nice looking necklace. Where did you get it?"

"Dr. Sanchez gave it to me as a souvenir. It was modeled using the real thing. You can look at it if you want." She handed it to Dorothy Ann.

Dorothy Ann turned the necklace over in her hands. This looks remarkably real for a souvenir, she thought. I know I can't tell the difference!

They finally pulled back into the parking lot. Their fieldtrip was over.


End file.
